The 535 members of Congress will now be treated like regular Delta Air Lines customers during the ongoing TSA partial government shutdown.
The airline company has temporarily suspended its special congressional desk service to lawmakers and staffers on Capitol Hill until Congress finally funds the DHS, which has been in a partial shutdown since Feb. 28.
In a statement, the airline said the move comes as staffing and resource challenges continue to affect travel nationwide.
“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 employee confirmed. “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.”
SAVE America Act
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act requires documented proof of American citizenship to be eligible to vote in elections.
However, Democrats in Congress pushed back on the proposed bill, saying it would impact Black people who don’t have IDs or can’t operate a computer.
Last week, Delta CEO Ed Bastian delivered a fierce rebuke of Congress for allowing funding for DHS to lapse, which has resulted in Transportation Security Administration employees going without full pay for over a month.
Bastian called the situation “inexcusable” and railed against lawmakers for using TSA workers as “political chips.”
“It’s inexcusable that our security agents, our frontline agents, that are essential to what we do, are not being paid, and it’s ridiculous to see them being used as political chips,” Bastian told CNBC last Tuesday. “We’re outraged.”
The bill was put forward by Texas senator John Cornyn who blamed Democrats for not voting on a bill that the Trump administration tied to increased voting restrictions and expanded Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding despite the fact that Republicans have thus far blocked all 11 Democratic proposals to reinstate funding to critical agencies like TSA, FEMA and CISA.
Due to this, the government has been partially shut down for 38 days in what is the second extended shutdown during Trump’s second term in the White House.