Thanks to the Schumer Shutdown and the Democratic Party's refusal to pass a clean Continuing Resolution, Americans are starting to feel the pain at America's airports.
TSA wait times 3++ hours in Houston today as employees who aren't getting paid aren't showing up for work. Expect this to spread to other airports tomorrow. Complete mess. I'm guessing the government reopens by Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/JYl6zwAyEK
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) November 3, 2025
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is also sounding the alarm on this, saying the delays are due to staff shortages.
Yesterday saw another horrible record set: 84% of delays were due to staff shortages.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 3, 2025
If this shutdown doesn’t end now, air traffic controllers will receive another $0 paycheck.
Many controllers are not coming to work because they have to find a job that WILL pay them so they… pic.twitter.com/PHK4gwaPzt
"Many controllers are not coming to work because they have to find a job that will pay them," Duffy wrote in a post on X.
"Americans are paying the price for Democrats’ sick political games as air travel grinds to a halt amid the Democrat-driven chaos."https://t.co/9cY7eXuWsc
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) November 3, 2025
In a scathing press release, the White House blamed Democrats for the delays (emphasis original):
Americans are paying the price for Democrats’ sick political games as air travel grinds to a halt amid the Democrat-driven chaos. With essential workers like air traffic controllers and TSA agents being forced to labor without paychecks, this past weekend saw the “worst weekend” for staff since the Democrat Shutdown began — and it’s only going to get worse.
Democrats have ushered in a full-scale disaster disrupting millions of air travelers’ lives:
- TSA checkpoint wait times have ballooned past three hours at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport — with some passengers enduring up to five hours in line. At nearby William P. Hobby Airport, security wait times are routinely exceeding one hour.
- Half of the nation’s busiest airports faced severe staffing shortages over the weekend, triggering a cascade of delays and cancellations that are rippling through the entire country. In fact, since the Democrat Shutdown began, four times as many staffing shortages have been reported at air traffic control facilities compared to last year.
- It’s not going to get better until Democrats end their senseless shutdown. Passengers in the New York City area are being warned of “schedule changes, gate holds, and missed connections,” while major disruptions have hammered airports in Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Austin, Cleveland, Seattle, Boston, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and countless others.
There’s a reason every major travel stakeholder — from air traffic controllers to pilots to the nation’s largest airlines — is begging Democrats to stop the insanity by passing Republicans’ clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution. Each week the Democrat Shutdown is prolonged, $1+ billion in travel-related spending is lost, all while Democrats try to “leverage” the suffering in their demented political game.
Democrats hold the off-switch; they choose chaos every day they refuse to act.
Perhaps Democrats are continuing their approach to using Americans' suffering as political leverage.
Meanwhile, video shared on social media shows how difficult travel is at many of America's major airports.
Social media footage shows a huge crowd waiting to get through the TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. “Four-and-a-half hours just to make it through the line to get into the TSA security line. Missed our flight,” X user @nextradaymus69 wrote in the… pic.twitter.com/Ya5xSECUCk
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 3, 2025
Major delays are stacking up across the nation’s airports as TSA workers and air traffic controllers, who are forced to go without pay during the government shutdown, call out sick. @giobenitez reports.
— ABC News (@ABC) November 3, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/Mk8Rx6EKdH pic.twitter.com/haHsXsplgy
What is the Democrats' plan here? Are they hoping to drag the Schumer Shutdown through Thanksgiving to make Americans hurt even more?
So what’s the democrats plan? Ruin everyone’s thanksgiving by destroying air travel in this county by not paying TSA agents and air traffic controllers?
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) November 3, 2025
All to give handouts to illegals?
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) is calling on Democrats to end the Schumer Shutdown, too.
TSA lines in Houston are stretching 3-4 hours.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 3, 2025
Time to end the stunt, @SenateDems. Vote with us to reopen the government. pic.twitter.com/53lMIIayfm
One X user wondered if this was meant to give Democrats leverage on election day.
"This is very coordinated leading to Election Day to generate press coverage. I went through ATL in 17 minutes Friday and LGA in under 15 minutes on Sunday," he wrote.