Lawmakers reckon with question of special treatment at airport security amid DHS shutdown

By Camila DeChalus, Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

(CNN) — More than a month into the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are reckoning with their own travel privileges amid anxieties the funding crunch could exacerbate issues at already understaffed airports around the country.

Lawmakers typically are allowed expedited screenings and to request security escorts at airports as they travel to and from Washington. Escorts, the Transportation Security Administration says, have been paused amid the funding stalemate. But the shutdown’s impacts to TSA, which falls under DHS, have raised fresh questions about how members of Congress travel and whether they should be afforded any preferential treatment.

The US Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would require members of Congress moving forward to go through the same security screening procedures as all passengers and end the use of federal funding for their expedited access. CNN has reached out to House leadership on the legislation.

The bill’s future in the GOP-led House wasn’t immediately clear Friday, but some have already come out in support of ending such privileges.

“Public servants should not get special treatment or special access, ever, on any front. That’s how I feel about it,” GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania told CNN.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said the issue is resonating with his constituents. “Increasingly, I hear it at town hall meetings — people want senators treated like everybody else,” he said.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna argued on X that TSA should immediately stop all escorts for senators who continue to keep DHS shuttered.

DHS already paused providing “courtesy and family police escorts” for members of Congress at airports last month after funding for the agency lapsed, according to the agency. In a statement to CNN, however, TSA noted that “there are some airports where other non-DHS entities are providing escorts” but did not elaborate on what those entities may be.

CNN has also reached out to US Capitol Police for additional clarity on whether the agency is providing congressional escorts locally.

Rep. Mike Rogers, who previously served as the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized Luna’s comments as “pandering.”

“I’m tired of members pandering like that. I don’t agree with what she said,” Rogers told CNN. He instead redirected his criticism toward the Senate, adding, “The Senate Democrats need to pass the damn DHS funding.”

Sen. John Cornyn, sponsor of the Senate bill, pushed back on resistance to the measure, arguing lawmakers should be held to the same standards as the public.

“I would love to have them stand up and say that to their constituents, because I bet their constituents will disagree with them,” he told CNN on Friday.

Key GOP and Democratic senators sat down Thursday with White House border czar Tom Homan in an attempt to reach a deal to reopen the department, which includes key functions like the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency along with TSA. Homan was set to return to the Hill again Friday for another round of talks with the group of appropriators.

TSA workers are currently going without full pay, prompting some to quit and others to take unscheduled time off, threatening wait times for security screenings at major airports. In recent days, spring break travel has also threatened to compound the travel woes.

“Congress does not seem to care that they are hurting us — that they are ruining lives because they can’t sit down and have a proper conversation on things,” a TSA worker told CNN, requesting anonymity out of fear of retribution.

The airport closest to Capitol Hill, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, has yet to see the long lines like at other airports or be impacted by the shortages in TSA staffing.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Sarah Ferris, Kaanita Iyer and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.