The Department of Homeland Security suspended TSA PreCheck and Global Entry nationwide at 6 a.m. Sunday, as the Democrat-triggered DHS shutdown entered its second week and just as a major winter storm moves into the Northeast air corridor.
More than 40 million vetted travelers rely on those expedited screening programs. Now, as snow and ice threaten major hubs from Washington to Boston, corridors that handle thousands of daily departures, those passengers are being routed back into standard security lines.
DHS is pausing the programs as part of emergency staffing measures following Congress's failure to pass funding.
The department is pausing its TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs — one of several emergency measures the agency said it is taking to redirect staffing....
Security checkpoints remain open. TSA officers are still screening passengers. But expedited benefits are suspended, enrollment operations are halted, and trusted-traveler privileges are effectively stripped during a funding fight. In prior federal shutdowns, enrollment slowed, but PreCheck lanes and Global Entry kiosks remained operational. This suspension goes further.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem placed the blame squarely on Democrats.
“This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,” Noem said. “Shutdowns have serious real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security.”
Under DHS’s September 2025 shutdown plan, roughly 90 percent of the workforce continues operating, many without pay. The first missed paycheck is scheduled for March 3, including for an estimated 63,000 TSA officers staffing airport checkpoints nationwide.
Noem described the broader operational tradeoffs now underway.
“The American people depend on this department every day, and we are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians,” she said, adding that TSA and Customs and Border Protection are focusing on “the general traveling public” while suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts.
Those reallocations collide with winter weather that slows aircraft rotations, requires 20–40 minute de-icing procedures, widens departure spacing, and increases the risk of cascading cancellations. Crews can time out under federal work limits. Rebooked passengers flood terminals. In those moments, expedited screening lanes normally act as a release valve.
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TSA PreCheck moves vetted travelers through dedicated lanes, easing strain on standard screening. Global Entry accelerates customs processing for international arrivals. With both programs suspended during the DHS shutdown, more passengers are forced into general screening flows precisely as storm-related congestion builds.
Democrats argue that the shutdown leverage is necessary to impose new immigration enforcement restrictions. But the first visible consequence is not policy reform; it is longer lines for travelers and missed paychecks for TSA agents.
The storm will pass. The shutdown will not, and until Democrats fund DHS, the bottleneck will be at the checkpoint.
Update: The TSA shared a post to X indicating that, as of Sunday morning, Pre-Check remains operational, subject to change, based on staffing needs. Courtesy escorts, including those for Members of Congress? Not so much.
https://redstate.com/ben-smith/2026/02/22/dhs-suspends-tsa-precheck-and-global-entry-as-winter-storm-hits-during-democrat-shutdown-n2199426
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