Security lines at some of the busiest airports in the country remained at a near standstill on Thursday.
And on Capitol Hill, a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security and resume paying TSA workers is also stalled.
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to "immediately pay" TSA agents that have gone weeks without receiving a paycheck due to the ongoing partial government shutdown.
TSA agents were set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday as the government shutdown now stretches past 40 days.
The root of the problem remains disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over funding for ICE. Both sides blame the other for the impasse.
“Obviously, the Democrats are not going to fund ICE without precautions taken," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). "But we have repeatedly voted to and repeatedly offered to fund everything else."
“Everything we put on the floor and every offer made they walk away from," said Sen. Tim Sheehy. (R-MT) "So, at this point, the White House and our side have pretty much given them everything they’ve asked for and they’re refusing to open up DHS."
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While lawmakers and the president point fingers, more TSA workers were forced to make sacrifices to make ends meet without a paycheck.
"They simply cannot afford to report to work," said Deputy TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill. “Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma. Received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed, and utilities shut off."
DHS reports more than 20% of TSA agents called out on Wednesday at the airports in Phoenix, Pittsburgh and New York. At airports in Houston, New Orleans and Atlanta, more than a third of agents were absent.
"If this new proposal does not get passed and TSA officers then go without another, yet another paycheck that comes in a zero, there is a likelihood that these callout rates really skyrocket," said travel expert Katy Nastro.
