DHS suspends TSA PreCheck and Global Entry during shutdown
Expedited lanes depend on central risk systems and staffing, paid fast track becomes optional when funding stops
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The US Department of Homeland Security said it was suspending TSA PreCheck and Global Entry lanes during the current partial government shutdown, Business Insider reports. The suspension was set to begin Sunday at 6 a.m. ET, though several airports reported the expedited lanes still operating hours later as the Transportation Security Administration assessed staffing “case by case.”
PreCheck and Global Entry are sold as throughput technology: identity vetting, risk scoring, and automation that lets approved travelers keep shoes on and move faster through checkpoints. They are also fee products—$76.75 for five years of PreCheck, and $120 for Global Entry, which includes PreCheck—that frequent flyers treat as a predictable service. A shutdown turns that promise into a political variable.
The immediate operational lesson is how tightly airport flow now depends on centralized eligibility systems and staffing models built around segmentation. When the “trusted traveler” module is removed—or even partially removed—airports must re-route passengers into general screening, increasing queue length and compounding delays. DHS framed the move as a resource decision that prioritizes the “general traveling population,” while simultaneously warning that without appropriations the agency cannot “afford to risk overstretching” staff.
The second-order effects are less visible. Expedited lanes do not just move people faster; they also manage peak demand by siphoning a high-frequency cohort into a separate process. When that cohort is forced back into the main line, the system loses a pressure valve, and the same workforce must handle a more heterogeneous stream. Essential employees—TSA and customs agents—continue working without pay, which historically increases the risk of callouts and cascading disruption.
A private alternative, CLEAR, continued operating, according to Business Insider. That contrast highlights a practical difference in service guarantees: a private fast-lane operator can promise continuity because its funding is not contingent on a budget vote. The government’s premium lane can be sold for years in advance and still be switched off overnight.
On Sunday morning, airports were still posting conflicting updates about whether PreCheck and Global Entry were open. The only consistent instruction from DHS was that members should be prepared to use the standard lines.