The Trusted Traveler programs, TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, will be temporarily halted at U.S. airports starting this Sunday. This suspension arises from a funding shortfall that has affected the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a week.
Both programs, managed by the DHS, are designed to provide travelers with expedited security clearance for a yearly fee. TSA PreCheck is tailored for domestic travelers, whereas Global Entry benefits those returning to the U.S. from international destinations by reducing wait times.
The DHS has described the suspension as an emergency measure. This decision comes after Congress failed to pass a funding bill for the department by February 14, triggering a partial government shutdown.
Beginning at 6 a.m. Eastern Time, the services of PreCheck and Global Entry will be unavailable.
In a statement to The Washington Post, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem emphasized the agency’s need to make difficult but essential adjustments in staffing and resources. The focus remains on accommodating the general traveling public at airports and entry points.
“This marks the third instance where Democrat politicians have instigated a shutdown of this department during the 119th Congress,” Noem remarked in her statement.
‘Shutdowns have serious real-world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers national security.’
Starting Sunday, DHS is also suspending police escorts for members of Congress traveling to airports.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is now set to halt all ‘non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters,’ Noem said. She mentioned the upcoming snowstorm in the Northeast this week as one such disaster FEMA will prioritize.
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry will be suspended at US airports starting Sunday at 6am ET. The Department of Homeland Security, which administers these programs, has been out of funding since February 14
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and other Republicans, have railed against the Democrats for refusing to fund the agency. Democrats have demanded that DHS agree to reforms in the wake of the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti
In the leadup to the partial government shutdown last week, Democrats refused to fund DHS unless Republicans agreed to new restrictions on the agency after federal agents shot and killed Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti last month in Minneapolis.
Democratic lawmakers want federal agents to wear body cameras, no longer wear masks, get judicial warrants to make arrests or searches inside people’s homes and to stop raiding churches and schools.
They also want agents to show their IDs when asked, and for them to stop ‘racial profiling’ during their operations.
This is the third shutdown in the last several months, with the latest being the 43-day shutdown in October and November that left nearly 750,000 federal employees without pay and tens of millions at risk of losing SNAP benefits.
That shutdown, which began on October 1 and lasted until November 12, was triggered after Democrats demanded Republicans extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans.
This shutdown only affects DHS, which makes up 13 percent of the federal workforce with some 260,000 employees.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the two agencies Democrats want to reform, will likely be able to continue operating normally despite the DHS funding lapse.
That’s because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed last year, allocated $75 billion to ICE and $65 billion to CBP over the next four years.
Immigration enforcement operations are likely to continue relatively unimpeded thanks to the Republican bill passed last year that allocated $75 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $65 billion to Customs and Border Protection over the next four years (Pictured: Federal agents detain locals in Minneapolis on January 21, 2026)
Agencies like FEMA and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not get boosts in funding last year, meaning they are more vulnerable.
It’s not clear when the impasse will break. Congress has been on a scheduled recess for the past week.
Democratic leaders have been negotiating with the White House and sent an offer on Monday, according to a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
For now Democrats have said they are willing to block funding for DHS until their demands are met, even though they don’t want TSA and FEMA to be negatively impacted.
White House deputy chief of staff James Blair went on Fox News on Tuesday to accuse Democrats of ‘grandstanding’.
‘They’re saying right now, OK, we’re going to close DHS until you basically stop enforcing immigration law in this country. We’re not going to do that,’ he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also called the most recent Democratic offer ‘unserious’, meaning a deal is likely far off.
