(Source: ABC News) — The partial government shutdown stretched into its 36th day on Saturday, with Transportation Security Administration officers reporting mounting financial strain as spring break travel surged and security lines at major airports swelled to hours-long waits.
With TSA workers having missed their last paycheck nearly a month ago, callout rates have more than doubled since the shutdown began, according to agency figures. The absences contributed to significant backups at airports across the country, including in Houston, Atlanta, New York, and Dallas.
In Houston, social media video showed security lines snaking through terminals with estimated wait times topping three hours on Friday. Travelers described chaotic scenes.
“We were kind of shocked because we literally had to go like down all the way down some escalators and come right back up,” one passenger said.
At New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the security line extended outside into the parking lot. Similar congestion was reported at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
For TSA officers working without pay, the toll has become increasingly personal.
“It was a choice between putting gas in my car and paying my light bill,” one worker said. “But for some people, there are choices between feeding their children and putting gas in the car.”
The shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, stems from a dispute over border security funding. On Friday, the Senate failed for a fifth time to advance a bill that would reopen the government. Democrats have demanded reforms to immigration enforcement, including requiring agents to wear body cameras and restricting the use of masks.
Travelers at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport expressed sympathy for the workers caught in the political standoff.
“Knowing that you’re doing your best and not even getting paid to still have a smile on your face, like that can only go on for so long,” one traveler said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the situation could deteriorate sharply if officers miss another paycheck next week. He described current delays as “child’s play” compared to what could lie ahead if the shutdown continues.
John Hubert, a TSA officer and local union president who also serves as a father of two young boys, has organized food and gas card drives to help colleagues who are struggling to make ends meet after missing their latest paycheck.
“It was a choice between putting gas in my car and paying my light bill,” Hubert said in an interview Saturday with ABC News. “But for some people, there are choices between feeding their children and putting gas in the car.”
Hubert said the financial strain has reached a breaking point for many officers, who are now forced to decide daily whether they can afford to come to work.
“Coming to work every day is a decision now. It’s not like how it was before,” he said. “A lot of things happening right now we don’t have to deal with on a regular basis. Now we have to make concessions. Fill our gas tank up, don’t pay this bill.”
The shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, has left roughly 800,000 federal workers without pay. For TSA employees, who are considered essential and required to work without compensation, the missed paychecks have triggered a cascade of financial crises.
Hubert said he has seen eviction notices and car repossessions among his colleagues. Unlike during a previous shutdown last year, creditors have become less forgiving, he noted.
“The creditors are not as forgiven,” Hubert said. “We had like a letter that the agency would supply to us to be able to submit to them to let them know that we’re in a furlough and we’re not being paid, but the creditors are not even paying attention to those notices anymore. So the eviction notices are coming out. People’s cars are being repossessed.”
He attributed the difference in part to the fact that this is a partial shutdown, affecting only a handful of agencies. Because much of the government remains funded, he said, the public is largely unaware that TSA officers are working without pay.
“A lot of people in America don’t know that the officers are operating with no pay,” Hubert said.
As union president, Hubert began organizing food drives to provide immediate relief. He said the effort has expanded to include gift cards and gas cards distributed across the airport.
“I felt that as a union president, I need to be able to assist the workforce immediately,” he said.
Hubert, who has a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, said the shutdown has dramatically impacted his own family, forcing him to juggle daycare costs and other expenses while continuing to report for duty.
“We have to think about afterschool and being able to pay the daycare and all this kind of stuff for our children, and it’s really difficult to be able to juggle that at the same time having to go back to work and take care of the traveling public,” he said.
With spring break travel approaching and April rent payments due at the start of next month, Hubert warned that the stress is becoming unsustainable.
“The stress points are like being broken every single day,” he said. “You have to make a choice every day when you have to come in to work.”
Hubert’s biggest concern, he said, is that the financial pressure will distract officers from their primary mission: aviation security.
“We cannot be distracted by all of these things, not being able to pay our bills,” he said. “It’s hard to sleep sometimes because you think about, man, I got to pay this bill. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to pay it.”
He noted that TSA has a 100% success record in preventing terrorist attacks on aircraft and inside airports.
“But we cannot be distracted,” he repeated.
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