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The U.S. Homeland Security Department (DHS) may have reversed its decision to completely suspend the PreCheck trusted traveler program, but the Global Entry expedited customs clearance service remains halted as a partial DHS shutdown reaches 10 days.
The moves have led to uncertainty at U.S. airports and criticism from airlines. While the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck program is now “operational,” an agency spokesperson said PreCheck checkpoint lanes are being evaluated on a “case by case basis” depending on “staffing constraints” at particular airports. This means PreCheck lanes could be closed intermittently at some airports.
While the rest of the U.S. federal government is funded through Sept. 30, DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 14. DHS said on Feb. 21 that PreCheck would cease operating, but reversed course by the following morning. However, there has been no reversal on Global Entry, which was halted on Feb. 22.
According to the latest update provided by DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry arrival processing remains suspended. CBP officers normally assigned to process Global Entry passengers have been “reassigned to process all other arriving travelers,” DHS said. Global Entry members are being told to use normal CBP lanes upon arrival at U.S. airports.
There are around 20 million PreCheck members and around 13 million Global Entry members.
The dispute between Democrats and Republicans over DHS funding revolves around Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a DHS agency Democrats say needs to be reformed after deploying highly controversial tactics in recent months. Talks appear to be deadlocked with no end to the DHS funding lapse in sight.
DHS agency TSA employs nearly 50,000 transportation security officers (TSOs) at more than 430 U.S. commercial airports. TSA has suspended all non-essential activities and TSOs are working without pay. Similarly, CBP officers are working without pay.
TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill warned Congress prior to the shutdown that disruptions at airport checkpoints were likely if DHS funding lapsed. She noted TSOs would be working without pay not long after a 43-day government-wide shutdown that occurred in October and November of 2025, during which TSOs also worked without pay.
While TSOs received back pay when the prior shutdown ended, McNeill said many of the airport security workers live paycheck to paycheck and may have incurred penalties for missed bill payments during the last shutdown and have not yet recovered financially. She warned another shutdown would likely cause increased TSO call outs resulting in reduced staffing levels at airports, lead to attrition, and compromise TSA recruitment efforts. She predicted “longer wait times at checkpoints, leading to missed or delayed flights.”
Airlines for America (A4A) similarly warned of checkpoint delays and flight disruptions when the DHS shutdown started. In an editorial published in The Hill newspaper on Feb. 23, A4A CEO Chris Sununu wrote that TSOs and CBP officers working at airports “simply cannot afford to go weeks without income. They have families to feed, rent payments and bills to pay. A promise of back pay, at an uncertain future date, doesn’t offer an immediate solution to real and personal financial problems.”
In a statement issued by Sununu after DHS announced PreCheck and Global Entry would be suspended, he said airline passengers were being “used as a political football amid another government shutdown.” He added the announcement regarding PreCheck and Global Entry was made with “extremely short notice to travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly, which is especially troubling at this time of record air travel.”
Sununu said members of Congress need to “get to the table and get a deal done that ensures TSA can fully operate and their front line employees can be paid for the important work they do to keep our skies secure.”
But Democrats and Republicans are at loggerheads. Democratic leaders say ICE “has terrorized communities across the country,” causing “chaos in our cities.” Republican leadership have called Democrats’ ICE reform demands “unrealistic.”
TSA said “courtesy escorts” through airport security checkpoints for members of Congress have been suspended. CBP has also stopped escorts of members of Congress through customs at airports.
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