The Democrat-led DHS shutdown has prompted suspension of TSA PreCheck and Global Entry effective 6 a.m. Eastern on Sunday.
Traveler and airport impacts
TSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection paused the trusted-traveler programs to prioritize resources for the general public and said they will halt courtesy escorts and special privileges, the department announced.
The move is expected to produce longer wait times at security checkpoints nationwide.
Unlike past shutdowns, including the 43-day closure in late 2025, these trusted-traveler programs had not previously been suspended.
Staffing and agency operations
About 90 percent of DHS’s roughly 260,000 employees are designated essential and must continue working without immediate pay, including personnel from TSA, FEMA, CISA, the U.S. Coast Guard, ICE, and CBP.
Those workers are slated to receive retroactive compensation once funding is restored under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act.
FEMA has shifted to disaster-only responses and is delaying non-emergency activities as officials track a major storm threat to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Cybersecurity monitoring and procurement could face delays that hinder threat assessments.
Coast Guard missions such as search-and-rescue and maritime security continue but may be constrained by limited resources.
Political standoff and next steps
Social Security payments, postal services, and most other federal functions remain unaffected because the shutdown is limited to DHS.
Negotiations to end the shutdown remain stalled as of this report.
Democrats are pressing immigration changes that critics say would effectively end deportations by requiring individual warrants for each removal of illegal aliens.
Republicans have rejected those measures as unacceptable while Democrats insist on other demands such as a ban on masks for federal agents, expanded oversight, and officer-worn body cameras.
The White House has agreed to body cameras, though Democrats are seeking restrictions on how the footage can be used.
In a procedural vote to advance the funding bill, the Senate fell short largely along party lines with a 52-47 outcome and only Senator John Fetterman joining Democrats in support.
President Donald Trump urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bypass the so-called “zombie” filibuster to end the shutdown and move forward on Republican-backed legislation.
