TSA officers open up to ABC News about their struggles.
TSA officers open up to ABC News about their struggles.Friday, March 20, 2026 10:00AMThe ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown is taking its toll on the thousands of Transportation Security Administration employees at airports who have been working without pay.
Approximately 60,000 TSA officers who have gone over a month with partial pay began receiving their first $0 paychecks last week. Many say they are living in fear, with some taking on extra jobs or even leaving the agency altogether to make ends meet. And if there is no relief soon, veteran TSA leaders fear that the stress and uncertainty could impact operations for years. "Who wants to go work in public service in the public sector when you're treated like a yo-yo?" a TSA worker who asked to remain anonymous told ABC News. The current partial shutdown, now in its second month, comes close to last fall's 43-day federal government shutdown, which paused payments to thousands of TSA workers, who were still required to work their shift. Angela Grana, a TSA officer at Durango-La Plata County Airport in Colorado, told ABC News Live on Monday, the first day that TSA workers missed their checks, that the entire situation has been humiliating for her co-workers. "The stories I get are very demoralizing," Grana, who serves as the state's regional vice president for AFGE TSA Local 1127, said. "To go ahead and do the Uber Eats or any other kind of side job, we have to have extra permission. For now, we can't just do it." Senate Democrats have vowed to block funding for DHS until reforms are made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal law enforcement. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on Democrats Monday to join a discharge petition that would fund all DHS agencies except for ICE. A vote on similar legislation failed earlier in the Senate. Jeffries would need at least four Republicans to sign on with all Democrats for the discharge petition to move forward. Grana said the stress of making ends meet and keeping the airports safe is getting to a lot of TSA officers. Several airports across the country have begun"Let me tell you, for us to be concentrating on our jobs without the hunger pains in our stomachs. It's really difficult to do. We can't get it wrong," Grana said. "We have to get it right every time. We cannot miss a bag, we cannot miss a threat." Jill DeJanovich, a TSA officer at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and single mom of four, was one of the nearly 2,700 TSA workersDeJanovich, who is the a AFGE Local 1260 Chief Administrative Point of contact in Nevada, said she is frustrated with Congress for not moving forward and ending the quagmire over funding.While some TSA officers said they had to power on through, for others, like Robert Echeverria, the strain of a second DHS shutdown in five months proved to be too much. After nine years working at Salt Lake City International Airport a lead TSA officer, Echeverria told ABC News that he left his job after the current shutdown. Echeverria said his family's life savings were depleted after the last shutdown."It was just really hard for my wife and emotionally to see my kids going through a hard time asking for things, and we wouldn't be able to actually help them out," he added."Losing seasoned employees is very difficult to replace," the TSA worker said. "New hires take two years to get off probation.""One of the requirements is that you have a great credit rating. A lot of our officers are not going to have that now," they said. Joseph Cerletti, a TSA officer at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, told ABC News that he struggles to explain to his kids about their financial issues now that his family has to depend solely on his wife's income. Cerletti relented that he and his coworkers "don't have the upper ground here" when it comes to fighting for their rights. "It's very hard to find words in the English language to describe how I feel about it, other than speechless," he said. "This is just what I've been describing lately as figuratively an uphill gunfight."
Government Shutdown Shutdown 2026 Shutdown Tsa Dhs Shutdown 2026 Government Shutdown Homeland Security Dhs Funding Tsa Wait Times Precheck Tsa Tsa Wait Time Tsa Lines Abc-News National 18739817
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Watch Live: Sen. Markwayne Mullin's confirmation hearing for DHS SecretaryPresident Trump announced Sen. Markwayne Mullin as his pick to replace embattled DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
Read more »
Tracking TSA wait times at EWR, JFK, LGA amid DHS gridlockFOX 5 NY is tracking TSA wait times across the region. As of Wednesday morning, wait times remained relatively steady at major airports.
Read more »
Airports may close as TSA funding issues continue: what we knowSome smaller airports may have to close as TSA staffing shortages strain screening operations, amid the ongoing DHS partial shutdown.
Read more »
TSA data show 10% of officers called out sick Tuesday amid DHS shutdown: ReportSome airports saw 40% of TSA officers call out sick as officers continue working without pay during a partial DHS shutdown.
Read more »
DHS shutdown: Hundreds of AZ TSA officers enter second month without payAs the partial government shutdown drags on, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is accepting donations for federal workers going without pay. FOX 10's Taylor Wirtz has more on how the DHS shutdown is also impacting American travelers.
Read more »
Fact Check Team: Airport lines may grow as unpaid TSA staff work through DHS shutdownThe partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is disrupting airport operations, but not aviation safety, at least for now.
Read more »