Concern Grows Over Government Shutdown's Impact On TSA In Chicago

CHICAGO — Several weeks into the government shutdown, concerns are growing over security for air travelers in Chicago and other cities across the country. Transportation Security Administration employees' jobs are considered essential, so they are expected to work without pay; however an increasing number workers are calling in sick, the agency admitted.

"TSA is closely monitoring the situation," the agency said in a statement Friday. "Security effectiveness will not be compromised."

The TSA said wait times so far "remain well within TSA standards," however long lines were seen at O'Hare on Monday.

As President Donald Trump fights with U.S. Congress over a Mexico border wall and the federal budget, many local federal workers face uncertainty.

In a news conference at O'Hare Tuesday, Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said TSA workers shouldn't be the victims of the shutdown.

"There isn't a single American who didn't hear this president say repeatedly during the course of this campaign that he was going to build a 2,000 mile concrete wall from sea to shining sea on the southern border of the United States and that Mexico would pay for it," Durbin said. "That is totally unnecessary and a total waste."

So far, the impact of the shutdown — entering its 18th day on Tuesday — has been most visible for some government buildings and national parks being closed and trash piling up on the National Mall in front of the Capitol in Washington DC. If the shutdown continues, food stamp recipients will go without aid.

Trump said the government shutdown is necessary to prevent the "national security crisis" at the border with Mexico.

Air traffic controllers who work for the Federal Aviation Administration and TSA officers have been told to keep reporting to work because they are deemed essential. Those workers at airport checkpoints, control towers and FAA radar stations aren't being paid.

Around 8,000 federal workers in Chicago are not being paid. The next scheduled paycheck for TSA workers is Friday, and there are concerns that more employees will call off work if they don't receive the check.

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