David Cummins warned that another shutdown could worsen staffing shortages and said the agency is preparing contingency plans to maintain operations
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief nominee David Cummins told senators that he would work to minimize disruptions to both travel and employee pay, should the government shut down again this October.
Cummins made his comments during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on July 16.
“If confirmed, we will explore various ways to protect our people, including the expansion of the Screening Partnership Program,” Cummins said.
The program allows some airports to use TSA-approved private employees to screen passengers.
Current federal funding will expire on Sept. 30, which is the end of the 2026 fiscal year.
Congress must pass 12 appropriations bills, or a continuing resolution to extend current funding levels, or parts of the government will again shut down on Oct. 1.
During a government shutdown, TSA officers are considered essential employees expected to continue working, but do so without pay, until Congress comes to an agreement that will again open the government.
“I am deeply concerned that in the face of another shutdown, we’re going to start seeing attrition pick up. And so we need to be prepared as an agency and develop contingency plans on how we’re going to deal with that eventuality if it happens,” Cummins said.
The nominee, however, asked the committee to “do whatever you can to keep that from happening and to ensure our workers are paid.”
The shutdown that began on Oct. 1, 2025, and ended on Nov. 12, 2025, was the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, surpassing the 35-day shutdown of 2018–2019.
The 43-day shutdown began when Democrats blocked a spending package supported by Republicans, saying they wouldn’t back a package that did not expand COVID-era healthcare subsidies.
A deal was struck to postpone a vote on the subsidies in December of that year, when they were set to expire.
According to Cummins, during the last shutdown, TSA officers were struggling to pay rent and utilities, even relying on food banks to keep their families fed.
“There is too much at stake to have them distracted by months without pay,” he said.
Democrats on the committee, including Ranking Member Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), warned against a proposed TSA plan to privatize part of the agency.
The plan, included in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, would cut thousands of TSA personnel and expand privatized screening.
Currently, 20 of more than 400 commercial airports nationwide use the new proposed screening program that utilizes private contractors.
“These proposals would hurt the very workforce dedicated to the security of the traveling public each day,” Kim said.
“Private contractors answer to a bottom line, incentivizing them to cut labor costs. And TSA’s privatization push is built on offloading its highest expenditure—personnel compensation and benefits.”
