Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have begun selling blood for cash as the Democrat-led partial government shutdown leaves them without pay. The shutdown, which began on February 14, is due to Senate Democrats repeatedly blocking funding measures for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) ongoing operations to enforce federal immigration statutes.
Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl revealed that some workers are “drawing blood to afford to pay for gas to get to work.” This marks the second time TSA agents have gone unpaid due to a shutdown, with many already missing a full paycheck. Stahl described the dire circumstances, stating, “Our people are hurting. We have individuals sleeping in their cars.” Though it remains unclear which blood products agents are donating for compensation, plasma donations typically offer cash payments, unlike whole blood donations. As the shutdown stretches beyond one month, increasing numbers of TSA agents are calling out of work, exacerbating long security lines at airports.
Major airports such as John F. Kennedy International in New York and Newark International in New Jersey have reported wait times up to 43 and 36 minutes, respectively. Spring Break travelers at destinations like Orlando and Honolulu are also encountering long delays, with some lines exceeding 45 minutes. At Atlanta‘s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest, roughly 36 percent of TSA workers failed to show up, resulting in hour-long waits for passengers.