Two more security checkpoints at PHL will close Wednesday due to TSA staffing shortages
The partial government shutdown has led to TSA staffing shortages across the country.
Two Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport will close starting Wednesday due to TSA staffing shortages.
The checkpoints at Terminals A-West and F will temporarily close Wednesday, with A-West closing at 5 a.m. and F closing at 4:30 a.m. There is no indication when they will reopen, according to an airport spokesperson.
The Terminal C checkpoint, which was closed Thursday, will remain closed as well. Only the TSA security checkpoints are closed; the terminals themselves are open for flights.
Travelers can use the Terminal A-East, B, and D/E checkpoints to get through security. Check live wait times for TSA checkpoints at phl.org. PreCheck passengers can use the PreCheck lanes at the A-East and D/E checkpoints.
Airports across the country have been experiencing staff shortages due to the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security amid a funding impasse. As Congress debates the department’s budget, agencies like TSA are operating without funding. Some smaller airports may even have to shut down, an unidentified official for President Donald Trump’s administration told Reuters.
In January, federal lawmakers narrowly avoided another full government shutdown by approving budgets for all federal agencies except the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans and Trump agreed to carve out the DHS budget for further negotiations as Democrats want to put more guardrails on federal immigration enforcement, such as “demasking” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and prohibiting “roving” patrols.
Legislators have made a few attempts to pass the Homeland Security budget, but neither side has budged on its demands. The only Senate Democrat to have supported funding the agency is Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.
Senate Democrats have sent a new counteroffer to Trump and GOP lawmakers, and await a response. In the meantime, the lapse in funding will continue to cause the staff shortages plaguing the country’s airports, including Philadelphia.