What the DHS Shutdown Means for Travelers Right Now

Congress failed to pass a full-year DHS appropriations bill before the February 14 deadline, triggering a complete funding lapse for the department. It's worth being precise here: this is a partial government shutdown in the sense that only one department lost its funding, but DHS and every agency under its umbrella—the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, FEMA, and CISA—are shut down completely.

Air traffic controllers work for the Department of Transportation, which has its money. So the scenario travelers fear most, mass flight cancellations because nobody's in the tower, isn't the risk here. The risk is slower and more insidious: a workforce asked, for the third time in months, to show up and work without a paycheck.

About 95% of TSA's roughly 64,000 employees are deemed essential, meaning they're legally required to keep working even though they won't see a paycheck until Congress reaches a deal. That works fine for a week or two. After that, things get iffy. Officers are already burned out from the fall 2025 shutdown, during which more than 1,100 TSA officers left the agency .

TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill has warned Congress that unscheduled absences doubled or tripled at some airports during the last shutdown. When enough officers call out, checkpoints close and lines back up. During the fall 2025 shutdown, TSA temporarily shuttered two checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport, and the government took the extraordinary step of ordering airlines to cut domestic flight capacity . February's slower travel pace provides some buffer but that buffer disappears when spring break starts.

Here's where it gets specific and actionable.

TSA PreCheck lanes remain open and eligible travelers can still use expedited screeningwith shoes on, laptop in the bag, and shorter lines. PreCheck is fee-funded, so it operates independently of the appropriations battle. If you don't have it, sign up now. Standard lines are going to get worse before this gets resolved.

While you're at it, opt into TSA PreCheck Touchless ID if your airline offers it. One traveler reported shaving 18 minutes off her processing time at a PreCheck checkpoint during the last shutdown just by having Touchless ID enabled. It costs nothing extra and takes about two minutes to set up through your airline app.

For travelers returning from abroad, Global Entry kiosks are still functioning and customs processing continues as normal (CBP agents are also deemed essential.) The place to watch is Global Entry enrollment appointments, which can become harder to schedule as staffing gets stretched. If you have a pending enrollment interview, keep an eye on your email for cancellation notices.

Passports are managed by the State Department, which isn't affected by this particular shutdown. Processing and issuance will continue , though any office located inside a federally shut building could face limited access. If you have an urgent passport need, schedule an appointment directly with a passport agency rather than relying on mail-in processing, and build in extra time.

The U.S. Travel Association has warned Congress that shutdowns cost the travel economy roughly $1 billion per week. That's the macro view. The micro view is that you might miss your connection because a checkpoint was understaffed at a regional airport.

The advice here is practical, not reassuring. Things are probably fine for now. They may not be fine in three weeks if Congress stays stuck.

Arrive earlier than you think you need to. The standard "two hours domestic, three hours international" advice always applies. Add 30 to 45 minutes on top of that until the shutdown resolves, especially at smaller airports with limited checkpoint capacity.

Don't book tight connections. A one-hour domestic connection was already pushing it. A 90-minute connection is a better bet while TSA staffing is uncertain.

Get TSA PreCheck and use Touchless ID. Standard security lanes are going to absorb every absent TSA officer's workload. PreCheck lanes are insulated from that pressure.

Use Mobile Passport Control if you don't have Global Entry. Available at major international airports, it's a free app that speeds up customs processing for returning travelers without requiring a full Global Entry enrollment.

Monitor your flight status more closely than usual. Airlines may delay departures to wait for passengers stuck in backed-up security lines. FlightAware and your airline's app will give you real-time status updates.

If you have a Global Entry interview scheduled, confirm it's still on. These are the first appointments to get bumped when staffing falls short. A quick check of your Trusted Traveler Programs account takes 30 seconds.

Right now, today, the airports are operating. TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are working. Flights are departing. The shutdown's damage is accumulative. It builds over weeks, not hours. The fall 2025 shutdown didn't become a travel nightmare immediately; it became one when workers who'd been showing up without pay for a month started doing the math.

Spring break starts in two weeks. This shutdown is, as of this writing, five days old with no resolution in sight. Plan accordingly.

Editor's Note: This article was published February 19, 2026. The DHS shutdown remains ongoing. We will update as the situation develops.