Washington: Passengers lined up for over four hours at US airports due to the prolonged government shutdown. Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), reported to the Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday that wait times at security checkpoints across the United States have reached their longest in the agency's 24-year history, with some exceeding four hours. This is a result of the prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
According to Thai News Agency, McNeill stated that many major airports in the U.S. have absenteeism rates among NCOs as high as 40-50 percent, and many NCOs are struggling to cover basic expenses. Some cannot afford utilities and risk having their power and water cut off, receiving eviction notices, sleeping in their cars, or even selling blood and plasma to survive. McNeill added that more than 480 people have resigned since the shutdown began in mid-February.
Democratic and Republican members of parliament blamed each other. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, stated that Republican senators had blocked funding for the Executive Bureau nine times and were responsible for the disruption experienced by travelers. President Donald Trump, in turn, criticized the Democrats for causing the airport chaos, saying they wanted the United States to worsen and fail.
Democrats have been calling for reforms to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency following the January shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal agents. Republicans have rejected these calls, leading to a stalemate that has prevented the department from obtaining funding since February 13th.