While the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may be easy to forget about in day-to-day life, travelers have been abruptly reminded how the shutdown affects the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Despite the TSA still facing significant staffing shortages, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday that the Global Entry program has been restored.
The Hill reports that the Trump administration sent an email to reporters announcing the restoration of Global Entry while also blaming Democrats for the DHS shutdown. “As DHS continually evaluates measures it can take amidst the Democrats’ continued shutdown of the department, DHS has reactivated Global Entry on March 11th at 5:00 AM ET,” a spokesperson for the department said in an email to The Hill.
Shortly after the DHS shutdown began on Feb. 14, the Trump administration announced that both the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs would be temporarily suspended. PreCheck is a membership program that allows domestic travelers to go through a streamlined security process at the airport after paying a fee and submitting a background check. Global Entry works similarly, but is primarily used for international travel. The Trump administration quickly walked back the decision to suspend PreCheck, but Global Entry has been offline throughout the shutdown.
The reactivation of Global Entry comes as TSA agents are set to miss their first full paycheck this Friday. According to CBS News, over 300 TSA agents have quit their jobs during the shutdown. The staff shortages and increasing rate of unscheduled call-outs have resulted in hours-long wait times at TSA checkpoints in several airports. The loss of those agents is likely going to be felt beyond the shutdown, as it takes four to six months to properly train new TSA agents.
The DHS shutdown began last month after Senate Democrats refused to pass a spending bill for the agency unless it implemented several reforms. The reforms were largely targeted at ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), whose methods have come under increased criticism after Alex Pretti and Renee Good were fatally shot by federal agents during ICE and CBP’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis.
The absurd thing about the DHS shutdown is that the demands from Senate Democrats aren’t particularly radical. Considering that damn near every law enforcement agency does their job sans face mask, it’s not an extreme ask for ICE agents to do the same. The reforms pitched by Democrats are literally asking DHS to do the bare minimum. Despite polling showing that the majority of voters disapprove of how ICE has been moving, the Republicans are still staunchly opposed. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Tuesday that Senate Republicans were offered a separate funding package for the TSA, but they rejected it.
The Hill reports that Senate Republicans were given the opportunity once again to fund the TSA and FEMA on Wednesday afternoon and voted not to do so. “I don’t want to hear any complaints from Republicans about TSA not being funded if they block this today. I don’t want to hear any complaints from Republicans about the Coast Guard not being funded if they block this today,” Schumer said before the vote.
Considering that immigration has gone from one of the GOP’s strongest issues to an albatross around their neck, you’d think they’d take the Senate Democrats up on the reforms, or at the very least fund the TSA. Instead, they’re allowing the DHS shutdown to continue in the misguided belief that blaming it on the Democrats is somehow going to help them politically.
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