Some smaller U.S. airports may be forced to shut down as the partial government shutdown drags on, according to Transportation Security Administration Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl.
Stahl told Fox News the agency is stretched thin, with employees calling out because they cannot afford gas to get to work.
"So at this point, we're fully stretched," he told "Fox & Friends." "Frankly, there's not much else we can do. As the weeks continue, if this continues, it's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if callout rates go up... A lot of those officers can't afford to come in."
One example: Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the busiest in the United States, is seeing callout rates of 30% to 36%. The airport is providing food vouchers and free parking to help workers.
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Stahl added that some workers are sleeping in their cars to make ends meet.
Scripps News spoke to a TSA agent from Boise about his experience during the shutdown.
“We’re talking with our officers every day worried about what’s going to happen with their rent, their child care, how to pay for food, all sorts of things like this,” said Cameron Cochems, vice president of AFGE Local 1127. “Passengers are being very supportive. People are donating food to our airports, gift cards, gas cards, things like that. But at the end of the day, canned green beans is not going to pay my rent.”
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The shutdown comes as the Department of Homeland Security has not been funded for nearly a month. Democrats have demanded administrative changes for immigration enforcement before fully funding DHS.
Democrats have offered proposals to fund parts of DHS, including TSA, but those have stalled.
