Delta Airlines has suspended some services for members of Congress amid the partial government shutdown, which has seen Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees working without pay since mid-February.

“Due to the impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown, Delta will temporarily suspend specialty services to members of Congress flying Delta,” a Delta Airlines spokesperson told PEOPLE on Tuesday, March 24. 

“Next to safety, Delta’s no. 1 priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in the current environment,” the statement concluded. 

According to the spokesperson, Delta will also temporarily suspend its Red Coat services and airport escorts.

The Capitol Desk, a reservations line used by congressional staffers to book travel, will remain open. Members of Congress will be treated as any other customer, based on their respective SkyMiles status.

Many TSA employees have not received a paycheck since Feb. 14, when funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed. DHS said on Saturday, March 21, that over 400 TSA employees have quit since the partial government shutdown began, NBC News reports. Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, told reporters there is a national callout rate of 10% among TSA employees.

Amid the partial government shutdown, there have been massive delays at airports across the country, leading officials to say some airports may need to fully shutdown as customers can not be accommodated.

“It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian and nine other aviation CEOs wrote in an open letter to Congress dated March 15.

The aviation CEOs called on Congress to reach an agreement to fund the DHS.

“It’s past time for the government to make sure that TSA officers, U.S. Customs clearance officers at airports and air traffic controllers are paid for the job they do,” the open letter reads. “In these times when it’s hard to reach consensus on just about anything, it is significant that the vast majority of Americans want Congress to pay federal aviation workers, keep our National Airspace System secure and ensure travelers and packages can get to their destinations safely.”

On Sunday, March 22, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that ICE agents “will be going to airports to help” TSA employees amid staffing shortages caused by the partial shutdown. The agents began arriving at airports on the following Monday, March 23.

“This is about going [and] helping TSA do their mission, and get the American public through that airport as quick as they can, while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols,” border czar Tom Homan told CNN of the deployment.

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The president, 79, has been vocal about placing blame for the shutdown on Democratic leaders, such as in a March 21 Truth Social post, claiming “Radical Left Democrats have hurt so many people with their vicious and uncaring ways.”

Democrats have pushed for reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which are both under DHS. They rejected the most recent idea from Senate Republicans, which would fund most of DHS and would partially fund ICE.

“We have to rein in ICE and stop the violence,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, according to The Hill. “We need reform.”

Credits: Delta Airlines

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Billionaire Elon Musk‘s offer to pay the salaries of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers has drawn massive praise on social media from netizens and US government officials alike.

As the partial government shutdown stretches on amid the ongoing funding impasse, Department of Homeland Security employees are facing a financial crisis. Many have been forced to work without pay, forcing them to earn money on the side or cut back on expenses.

In February, the majority of Democrats agreed to withhold funds from DHS after two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, were killed at the hands of immigration authorities in Minnesota.

Currently, the budget battle over TSA’s parent agency is in its fifth week. According to Reuters, TSA personnel are just days away from missing a second full paycheck. Federal data cited by US reports suggests that TSA employees earn an average of $61,000 annually.

While the funding remains frozen, airports are holding food drives and accepting donations for security screeners.

US officials and netizens praise Elon Musk’s proposal

Many banded together to praise Musk’s offer, with some reflecting on how it would bring positive change for TSA workers currently grappling with the financial crisis.

Fox News’ Laura Ingraham re-shared Musk’s tweet on Saturday and wrote, “I just told a few TSA workers at Dulles this news. Huge smiles and a ‘For real?’ and ‘No way!’” In a separate tweet, she said, “Elon to the rescue–again!”

Meanwhile, US Senator John Fetterman called his plan “incredibly generous.” The Democratic politician reiterated his stance against his fellow party lawmakers holding out against funding DHS over their criticism of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations under the second Donald Trump administration.

“TSA agents across the country are relying on food pantries and c

ommunity donations just to get by,” he wrote on X. “I remain the lone Dem to vote with my Republican colleagues to fully fund DHS and get people paid. It should never come to this point.”

American actor Kevin Sorbo also lauded Musk’s initiative. He tweeted, “A private citizen is doing more than our entire senate right now. Amazing work Elon, I commend you.”

Meanwhile, a self-proclaimed ‘American Supremacist’ on X added, “My Senator, Elizabeth Warren, bitches and complains that billionaires are so evil, but Elon is about to pay the salary of 60,000 TSA employees because she and her party have decided they now represent illegal aliens instead of American citizens. 

Attorney General for Texas, Ken Paxton, took a sarcastic dig at the officials fuelling the funding impasse. “Wow. This is leadership,” he said.

US Rep Anna Paulina Luna chimed in, “Elon just proved the Senate HAS failed the American people. Thune for REFUSING to embrace the talking filibuster or remove filibuster and open up the government/passing voter ID. AND Schumer & Senate Dems for willing to force TSA, USCG, & DHS to go without paychecks.”

US Senator Ron Johnson wrote: “Elon is a true patriot. Let’s hope and pray our laws allow it.”

MAGA influencer Benny Johnson called Musk an “absolute legend and patriot.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, “A lot of travelers will appreciate this if it comes to fruition. Unbelievable flight delays occurring all over the country right now.”

Megyn Kelly also joined the hype train, while noting that Musk was pitching in for the leadership here. “Holy cow this is incredible. But also totally not his responsibility,” she tweeted.

What’s next for US airports?

US President Donald Trump threatened to deploy federal immigration agents to US airports unless Democrats agree to fund the DHS. “I will move our brilliant and ‌patriotic ‌ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one ​has ‌ever seen before,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on the same day as Elon’s tweet.

In a separate post that day, he added, “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!”

It remains uncertain when further talks on a vote on the new funding proposal will take place. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Friday that bipartisan negotiators have narrowed down the disputes over the issues that still need to be resolved.

Credits: US

The post Private citizen doing more than US senate’: Musk’s offer to pay TSA salaries elicits ‘huge smiles’ among employees first appeared on AircrewNews.com.