The Elitist Media seem to have a problem on their hands. Their non-coverage of an ongoing DHS shutdown, forced by Democrats wanting to change ICE policy, has been severely complicated by virtue of current events.
Watch as ABC World News Tonight manages a full report on the ongoing shutdown-induced travel delays, without ever mentioning the reason behind the shutdown:
WATCH: @ABCWorldNews manages a report on the ongoing travel delays and DHS shutdown as if they spontaneously occurred, without ever mentioning WHY there is a shutdown in the first place. pic.twitter.com/bV3ogtzHDV
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 10, 2026
DAVID MUIR: Now to the travel chaos at many American airports, TSA checkpoints, the long lines- this partial government shutdown dragging on and TSA agents haven’tt had a full paycheck in weeks. Here’s Gio Benitez with the pictures.
GIO BENITEZ: Tonight, missed flights and ruined vacations as TSA staffing shortages throw Spring Break travel into chaos. Airports packed from Miami to Phoenix to Houston’s Hobby Airport, where even seasoned travelers like Claire Lee were shocked by the crowds this morning.
CLAIRE LEE: First time ever, and I travel the world. I’ve never seen anything like this.
BENITEZ: Officials telling passengers to arrive five hours early.
TRAVELER: Usually I witness this on TV, watching it. Now I’m part of it.
BENITEZ: At Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans, passengers started lining right up by their cars in the parking garage. The TSA, short staffed amid a government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security. And because of that shutdown, roughly 60,000 TSA officers, who get you through security, haven’t gotten a full paycheck in almost a month and many are not showing up to work.
AARON BARKER: To not have your full entire paycheck come through, that puts a strain on finances for your household so they are having to make very tough decisions.
BENITEZ: And David, so far airports like Newark have been faring better but there’s a real concern here about lines the longer this shutdown goes on. David.
MUIR: Gio Benitez reporting tonight. Gio, thank you.
Unreal but ABC seems hell-bent on playing Hide-the-Shutdown here. While acknowledging the existence of a shutdown, there is no mention of a reason why it happened, who instigated it, or what it may take from Congress to bring the shutdown to an end. Viewers are left to believe that this shutdown just occurred spontaneously.
The CBS Evening News cleared ABC’s ultra-low bar, citing a rationale for the shutdown. The reasoning, though, lays blame squarely at the feet of The White House:
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Now some airports are telling flyers to get here three hours before their flight. This surge in wait times comes as the airlines are preparing to fly 171 million people for Spring Break. And as a partial government shutdown over the Trump administration’s immigration policies enters its fourth week.
The second prolonged government shutdown since October is taking a toll on some of the government’s lowest paid workers. The more than 50,000 TSA officers on the job will miss a full paycheck this week and have no idea when the next one will come, driving the spike in sick calls.
TSA EMPLOYEE: We don’t need a promise of a paycheck. We need a paycheck. We can’t go to the bank with a promise.
VAN CLEAVE: With a political stalemate continuing in Washington, a trip to the airport means a flight of uncertainty at airports nationwide.
Assigning shutdown blame to the administration’s immigration policies, and not to the Democrats who opposed funding DHS, seems to be a major cop-out. The report further cites a stalemate but does not clarify what the stalemate is over, or who is even stalemating. One supposes that CBS’s viewers are expected to jump on the internet if they want to know more about the shutdown.
Over at NBC Nightly News, viewers get more of the same:
TOM COSTELLO: The reason for the long lines, the DHS shutdown over ICE policies. Caught in the middle, TSA officers and passengers.
CHRIS SUNUNU: They’re just political footballs, basically, that are used as leverage points for political battles that they have nothing to do with.
In this case, NBC offers a mention of the shutdown, and an incomplete quote from former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu decrying that TSA employees are caught in a political battle. We don’t know more because the quote got clipped, denying it any visible context.
There is a shutdown going on at the Department of Homeland Security, in the midst of a war, off the heels of a terrorist attack and multiple contingencies. And from watching the networks’ coverage, it seems that they know this coverage is inconvenient.
Had the partisan roles been reversed? Coverage would most assuredly be (D)ifferent.
Click “expand” to view the full transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective network newscasts on Monday, March 9th, 2026:
CBS EVENING NEWS:
TONY DOKOUPIL: We’re going to turn now to the other major travel story tonight, the major delays at America’s airports as security lines in some cases snaked through concourses, downstairs, even in the baggage areas at times. What’s gone wrong, what‘s needed to fix it. Here’s Senior Transportation Correspondent Kris van Cleave.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: This is not what flyers hope to see arriving at the New Orleans airport Monday morning. Only some TSA lines open due to staffing shortages stemming from soaring sick calls. The line, snaking its way through the terminal for the second straight day. Sunday, people were in line for hours stretching out into the parking garage.
TRAVELER: I was here three weeks ago during Mardi Gras, and it was no problem. This is insane.
TRAVELER: I had to change my flight, so rather than a 3:00 P.M. flight, it is now an 8:00 P.M. flight.
VAN CLEAVE: At Houston’s Hobby airport, wait times topped three hours Sunday, and by Monday the line was at least two hours long just to get to security.
TRAVELER: We have missed both our flights.
VAN CLEAVE: Now some airports are telling flyers to get here three hours before their flight. This surge in wait times comes as the airlines are preparing to fly 171 million people for Spring Break. And as a partial government shutdown over the Trump administration’s immigration policies enters its fourth week.
The second prolonged government shutdown since October is taking a toll on some of the government’s lowest paid workers. The more than 50,000 TSA officers on the job will miss a full paycheck this week and have no idea when the next one will come, driving the spike in sick calls.
TSA EMPLOYEE: We don’t need a promise of a paycheck. We need a paycheck. We can’t go to the bank with a promise.
VAN CLEAVE: With a political stalemate continuing in Washington, a trip to the airport means a flight of uncertainty at airports nationwide. Kris van Cleave, CBS News, Phoenix.
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS:
TOM LLAMAS: It was a stunning scene at airports nationwide today. Security lines stretching two, even three hours long. TSA agents aren’t being paid during a partial government shutdown, and now some aren’t even showing up. Here’s NBC’s Tom Costello.
TOM COSTELLO: The start of a record-breaking spring break season and, again, long lines at some big airports. In Atlanta, the world’s busiest, in Philly, time lapse captured the long lines. In New Orleans, a packed terminal with lines extended to the parking garage, and hours-long lines yet again in Houston.
POLICE OFFICER: TSA line starts downstairs in baggage.
TRAVELER: I have been waiting in line for about two hours now.
TRAVELER: When we were outside, way far away from the door, that was a little frightening. We’re still hopeful because we’re moving at this point.
COSTELLO: NBC’s Priscilla Thompson is there.
PRISCILLA THOMPSON: This is the scene at Hobby Airport in Houston. Security lines stretch across the entire top floor, through baggage claim and snaking out on to the curb.
COSTELLO: The reason for the long lines, the DHS shutdown over ICE policies. Caught in the middle, TSA officers and passengers.
CHRIS SUNUNU: They’re just political footballs, basically, that are used as leverage points for political battles that they have nothing to do with.
COSTELLO: After receiving half a paycheck two weeks ago, TSA officers will miss a full check this week with most working paycheck to paycheck, and now some taking part-time work.
JOHNNY JONES: They have their fuel tanks and need to fill up their stomachs. They have little kids that need to go to day care.
COSTELLO: The TSA waiting time app is currently down so if you’re traveling, watch your local airport’s website for the TSA waiting times and get there early. Tom.
LLAMAS: All right. Thank you for the tips, Tom.
