TSA officers describe tears, tough choices and dwindling savings

TSA officers describe tears, tough choices and dwindling savings Tens of thousands Transportation Security Administration officers are set to receive another $0 paycheck this week By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press , OBED LAMY Associated Press , and RIO YAMAT Associated Press March 25, 2026, 12:04 AM A woman in Indiana who put off dental surgery because she doesn't know if she can afford the copay. A Florida couple with young children who are depleting their savings. A grandmother in Idaho who plans to sell her car to pay the rent. They are among the tens of thousands Transportation Security Administration officers set to receive another $0 paycheck this week. A dispute in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security has held up their salaries since mid-February. With monthly bills coming due, many of these federal employees, who screen passengers and luggage at airports across the U.S., are making difficult choices about how to make ends meet. High absentee rates at some major airports have produced long lines and frustrated passengers at understaffed security checkpoints. Union leaders and federal officials say empty gas tanks, childcare expenses and the threat of eviction keep more screeners from showing up the longer the shutdown continues. At last count, more than 455 had quit instead of weathering the ongoing uncertainty, according to DHS. “Stop asking me about the long lines. Ask me if somebody’s gonna eat today,” Hydrick Thomas, president of the national American Federation of Government Employees union council that represents TSA employees, told reporters Tuesday. Before starting her shift at Indianapolis International Airport on Monday, Taylor Desert stopped at a food bank for meat, eggs, vegetables and dairy products. “I never thought I would be in a position where, working for the federal government, I would need to go to a food bank to supplement my groceries,” she said as she loaded bags into her car. Desert, who has been a TSA officer for...