The Airport Meltdown
The Daily
Mar 26, 2026
A month-long Department of Homeland Security shutdown has pushed the TSA to a breaking point, with unpaid workers forced to choose between national security and feeding their families. As Michael Gold and Karin Demersian reveal, the resulting "call-outs" have created the longest wait times in history, leaving travelers stranded while politicians use airport misery as a bargaining chip for ICE reforms.
Key insight: It takes up to six months to train a single TSA officer, meaning the 480 workers who have already quit represent a permanent security gap that cannot be fixed before the summer travel surge, even if the shutdown ends today.
