Airport chaos worsens as TSA officers face second missed paycheck

NEW YORK — Andrew Leonard arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4:45 a.m. Monday for his 7 a.m. flight to Seattle. After nearly two hours, he managed to get through security and reach the gate just in time to board the plane.

“I fly out of this terminal all the time, and it’s crazy,” said Leonard, a 34-year-old performing arts teacher who flew from New York to Seattle for a family vacation to Hawaii.

He is one of tens of thousands of travelers across the U.S. facing extra-long security wait times at major airport hubs like Atlanta, New York and Houston due to the increasing absence of Transportation Security Administration officials. TSA workers face a second missed full paycheck this week as the partial government shutdown continues.

White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that the administration will deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports on Monday to help ease security lines during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

ICE agents were missing from checkpoints at Kennedy Airport Terminal 8 early Monday, and it was unclear where and when the agents would be stationed. DHS and TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Monday.

Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that ICE agents “will help TSA move those lines forward,” which will include guarding exit gates so TSA agents can screen passengers. “We’re just there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need specialized expertise.”

TSA’s more than 50,000 officers have been working without regular pay since the partial government shutdown began in mid-February. The shutdown comes as Democrats demand changes to how federal immigration enforcement operates in exchange for freeing up DHS funding following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by officers in Minneapolis.

Hundreds of TSA officers have resigned since the shutdown began, according to their union, the American Federation of Public Employees.

The travel industry, including airline executives, has accused lawmakers of failing to pay essential public workers during repeated shutdowns that have disrupted travel.

Two federal government shutdowns ended in early 2019 and late 2025, shortly after travel disruptions escalated following higher-than-usual levels of absence from air traffic controllers. Their salaries are not affected by this impasse.

New York’s LaGuardia Airport was closed Monday morning after an Air Canada regional jet and an emergency vehicle collided Sunday night. Some passengers told CNBC they chose to fly from Kennedy because of the disruptions.

The Federal Aviation Administration added to travel chaos in New York City by issuing a ground stop at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Monday morning.

— CNBC’s Garrett Downs contributed to this article.