Ex-acting DHS chief Chad Wolf warns shutdown leaving TSA workers ‘distracted’

Former DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf warned that the department’s prolonged shutdown caused unpaid workers to become “distracted” as terrorist threats increased, potentially putting national security at greater risk.

“You don’t want them to get distracted,” he said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” Sunday.

“It’s just human nature you’re going to worry about where your next paycheck is going to come out, how you’re going to pay the bills… And we need our men and women at DHS… whether you’re at the airport, whether you’re a Coast Guard officer who’s a national security officer, whether you’re a woman, or if you’re handling immigration and screening people coming into the country, you want them to focus on the mission at hand,” Wolf said.

Wolf’s comments came as a partial government shutdown dragged into another week and left 100,000 DHS workers, including 50,000 TSA agents, working without pay.

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The funding cut is already straining airport operations, with passengers reporting long security queues at major hubs and authorities warning the situation could worsen if the recession continues.

At the same time, many experts fear that the threat environment will remain high, especially as conflicts in the Middle East escalate and recent terror-related incidents raise concerns about potential attacks on U.S. soil.

Amid rising tensions, President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to airports to assist TSA officers.

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The Department of Homeland Security has suffered funding cuts as Washington struggles with a spending deal stall, leaving thousands of employees working without pay. (Photo: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

“On Monday, ICE will be heading to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who remain on duty even though Radical Left Democrats, focused solely on protecting hardened criminals entering our country illegally, are endangering the United States by withholding money agreed to long ago in signed and sealed contracts,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Wolf told Fox News that the vulnerability comes at a particularly dangerous moment and that recent events highlight the need for greater caution.

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“We’ve had four incidents over the past month, most of which were likely terrorism-related and aimed at the American people,” he said. “That’s why…we need all of our officers and employees at the Department of Homeland Security to be fully focused on their jobs.”