Travellers across the US are facing unusually long lines at airports, as hundreds of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have quit while others continue to miss paychecks and call out of work amid a partial government shutdown.
BBC journalist Christal Hayes was returning home after her honeymoon and was caught in the chaos, reporting wait times of over four hours. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were onsite to provide crowd control.
US President Donald Trump has declared that he will sign an executive order to ensure that TSA agents are paid “immediately” which could provide temporary relief, but it remains unclear what authority the White House could invoke for such a move. Late on Thursday night, the US Senate passed a partial funding bill to pay TSA but it still has to be passed in the House.
Read more on the funding crisis here.
