LEILA FADEL, HOST:
TSA agents still are not being paid. It's been over 40 days since funding was cut off and began causing long lines at airport security checkpoints across the country.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Congress has not reached a deal to pay them due to a disagreement over immigration enforcement tactics. President Trump says he's ordering the Department of Homeland Security to find money in its budget, although it's unclear exactly how that will work.
FADEL: NPR's Joe Hernandez joins us now with the latest on U.S. air travel and the next steps for TSA. Hi, Joe.
JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So what happened in airports across the U.S. this weekend?
HERNANDEZ: Well, a version of a story we've been hearing for weeks now, which is long lines at TSA checkpoints at many airports across the country. These are the longest wait times in TSA history, so we're talking three, four hours or even more. Over the weekend, BWI airport in Baltimore was telling travelers to arrive three to four hours before their flights. NPR spoke with one traveler in the security line there, Darrien Davis (ph), who was flying from Baltimore to Atlanta, which he does often.
DARRIEN DAVIS: This process usually takes about maybe 15 minutes, at least on the Baltimore side. I have no idea how long this is taking at this point, to be really honest. You just kind of got to smile and nod and hope you get through. But it's at least four times the time. And that's in Baltimore. Atlanta is just unspeakable at this point.
HERNANDEZ: But it can be hard to understand why these wait times are fluctuating so much. So wait times can be several hours at airports like Houston and New Orleans one day and then much shorter the next day. So in addition to the headache of these long lines, travelers are also dealing with the kind of unpredictability of this whole situation.
FADEL: Let's just get to the why here, for those who don't know why the government isn't paying TSA agents. How did this all start?
HERNANDEZ: Yeah. It has to do with a dispute in Congress over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. That includes TSA, and it also includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. There have been several proposals now to fund DHS with added restrictions on immigration enforcement that Democrats have been pushing for, but lawmakers haven't been able to reach a deal yet. And in the meantime, TSA agents are missing paychecks, they're calling out from work and that's leading to these long lines.
Now, one of the ways that the Trump administration has chosen to deal with that so far is by sending ICE agents to some airports. White House border czar Tom Homan told CBS' "Face The Nation" on Sunday that those ICE agents will stay there as long as they're needed.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")
TOM HOMAN: Look, we're going to continue an ICE presence there until the airports feel like they're in 100% - you know, in a posture where they can do normal operations.
HERNANDEZ: And some airports have had close to 40% of TSA agents call out last week.
FADEL: Now, the Trump administration says they have a plan to pay TSA workers. What is that plan, and when will that happen?
HERNANDEZ: Right. So Trump signed a memo ordering Homeland Security to use department funds to pay TSA workers. It's not exactly clear how that will work, since it's not an appropriation from Congress, but the administration says TSA staff could start getting paid as early as today. Even if those paychecks do go out, there are still a few issues here. One is that so far during the shutdown, close to 500 TSA officers have quit. And then Congress still has to figure out how to fund DHS, but lawmakers have just left on recess.
FADEL: That's NPR's Joe Hernandez. Thank you for your reporting, Joe.
HERNANDEZ: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
