Chuck Schumer voted six times to strand you in that four-hour TSA line.
He did it while quietly walking past every one of them.
Delta just ended that – and the Senate voted unanimously to make sure it never happens again.
Congress Has Been Skipping TSA Lines While You Wait for Hours
Most Americans had no idea this was even happening.
While regular passengers waited hours in security lines that snaked outside terminal doors, members of Congress were walking straight to the front.
Not through TSA PreCheck – through a completely separate privilege that let them bypass standard screening entirely.
"As many Americans probably don't know – but most of us in Washington do know – airports around the country allow members of Congress to bypass the usual TSA security screening process at airports nationwide," Sen. John Cornyn said on the Senate floor.
They skip the line. Every time.
Delta went further this week, suspending airport escorts and "red coat" concierge service for all lawmakers until the TSA gets funded.
"Due to the impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown, Delta will temporarily suspend specialty services to members of Congress flying Delta," the airline said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian had already told CNBC it was "inexcusable" that TSA agents were being used as political chips.
Now Delta is making Congress feel that.
Democrats Blocked DHS Funding Six Times While TSA Workers Went Unpaid
Here is the truth about how more than 480 TSA officers quit their jobs and America's airports descended into chaos.
In January, Democrat senators decided to block all DHS funding – the entire department, including TSA – over two ICE-related shootings in Minneapolis.
Schumer announced Democrats "will not provide the votes needed" for DHS funding without sweeping ICE reforms.
Then they blocked it again. And again. And again. Six times total – same answer every time, same Schumer press conference, same talking points – while TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill sat before Congress and testified that airports are experiencing "the highest wait times in TSA history," with some checkpoints hitting four and a half hours.
At some airports, 40 to 50 percent of the TSA workforce was calling out on any given day.
And while that was happening, the same senators who created it were walking past you to their gates.
Leavitt Nailed What Democrats Are Actually Doing
At the White House briefing room podium, Karoline Leavitt read from a letter written by a TSA father of three who quit his job to feed his family.
"The hardest thing," he wrote, was watching his wife break down at night – "how am I going to feed my family? How am I going to survive?"
Then Leavitt named what Democrats were doing.
"For the Democrats in Congress, the cruelty of this shutdown is the point," she said. "They want this chaos."
She accused them of trying to distract from military victories overseas – and she's right.
Republicans offered to fund every part of DHS except ICE's enforcement and removal operations – the exact deal Democrats had been demanding for weeks.
Schumer called it "bad faith."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the Democrat counteroffer "not even close to being real" and said they were "going in circles."
Sen. James Lankford put it in plain English: his party gave Democrats exactly what they had asked for three days earlier, and Democrats came back with nine new demands – all of them previously rejected.
Meanwhile, Trump deployed ICE agents to the nation's biggest airports to move travelers through lines.
Karoline Leavitt confirmed wait times dropped after they arrived.
The ICE agents Democrats spent 40 days refusing to fund are the ones keeping your security line moving.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Democrats are "driving the country off a cliff" and warned the country is at "high risk."
That's not hyperbole.
The TSA's acting administrator told Congress the agency may have to close smaller airports entirely if funding doesn't resume.
New TSA hires require four to six months of training – meaning anyone lost now won't be replaced until well after the FIFA World Cup kicks off in June, when the United States is co-hosting and expecting up to 10 million additional passengers.
Schumer's shutdown hits spring break travelers.
It hits the national security posture of the entire country during the biggest international event America has hosted in decades.
Congress made sure it wouldn't feel any of this.
Until now.
RINO Senator John Cornyn's bill passed the Senate unanimously and strips the line-skipping perk permanently.
"Trust in Congress is at an all-time low," Cornyn said after passage, "but today, thank goodness, the Senate has taken an important step towards restoring the trust of the people we are here to represent."
The bill still needs House approval and Trump's signature.
That TSA father of three who quit his job to feed his family already knows who did this to him.
Now so does everyone else.
Sources:
- Alex Miller, "Cornyn Targets Lawmakers' Airport Fast Pass as TSA Lines Grow During DHS Shutdown," Fox News, March 24, 2026.
- "Delta Suspends VIP Services for Congress Members Amid DHS Shutdown, TSA Delays," Fox Business, March 24, 2026.
- "Senate Funding Deal Stalls as DHS Shutdown Grinds On," CBS News, March 25, 2026.
- "'Cruelty Is the Point': Leavitt Slams Dems on Day 40 of DHS Shutdown," The Daily Signal, March 25, 2026.
- "Dems Block DHS Funding After GOP Rejects Counter, Thune Says Schumer 'Going in Circles,'" Fox News, March 25, 2026.
- "DHS Shutdown Drags into 40th Day as TSA Agents Go Unpaid," Fox News Digital, March 25, 2026.