Joe Hernandez

Good morning.

Well, a version of a story we've been hearing for weeks now, which is long lines at TSA checkpoints at many airports across the country.

These are the longest wait times in TSA history.

So we're talking three, four hours or even more.

Over the weekend, BWI Airport in Baltimore was telling travelers to arrive three to four hours before their flights.

NPR spoke with one traveler in the security line there, Darren Davis, who was flying from Baltimore to Atlanta, which he does often.

But it can be hard to understand why these wait times are fluctuating so much.

So wait times can be several hours at airports like Houston and New Orleans one day and then much shorter the next day.

So in addition to the headache of these long lines, travelers are also dealing with the kind of unpredictability of this whole situation.

Yeah, it has to do with the dispute in Congress over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

That includes TSA, and it also includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

There have been several proposals now to fund DHS with added restrictions on immigration enforcement that Democrats have been pushing for,

But lawmakers haven't been able to reach a deal yet.

And in the meantime, TSA agents are missing paychecks.

They're calling out from work.

And that's leading to these long lines.

Now, one of the ways the Trump administration has chosen to deal with that so far is by sending ICE agents to some airports.

White House border czar Tom Homan told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that those ICE agents will stay there as long as they're needed.

And some airports have had close to 40 percent of TSA agents call out last week.

Right.