TSA Grapples With Record-Breaking Holiday Travel and Looming Government Shutdown

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The TSA is gearing up for an extraordinarily busy holiday season for travel.
In a statement, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said, “We expect this holiday season to be our busiest ever. We are ready for the anticipated volumes and are working closely with our airline and airport partners to make sure we are prepared for this busy holiday travel season.”
“During the 12-day period, TSA expects to screen 30 million passengers. Historically, the three busiest travel days are the Tuesday and Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving and the Sunday afterward,” the TSA shared. “TSA is projecting to screen 2.6 million passengers on Tuesday, Nov. 21; 2.7 million passengers on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day.”
The statement from the TSA comes as a potential government shutdown could upend holiday travel.
According to NBC News, TSA officers and air traffic controllers across the country could be working without pay during the busy Thanksgiving travel period as the US heads towards a government shutdown.
“The last government shutdown in 2019 was 35 days, and when you go 35 days without a source of income, that’s very, very hard,” Pekoske said in an interview on the TODAY show. “It’s hard to put gas in your car. It’s hard to pay for parking, hard to pay for child care. So the longer a shutdown goes, the bigger the impact on us.”
Per NBC News, unless Congress passes a new funding bill, the federal government will shut down and be unable to pay its workers – which includes air traffic controllers and TSA officers – beginning on Saturday.