Travelers at several U.S. airports complained of long waits Sunday, with video posted to social media showing hours-long security checkpoint lines as the busy spring break travel season kicks off and as the partial government shutdown continues. At airports in Houston and New Orleans, lines at a irport security were especially long. Estimated wait time at the standard Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston early Sunday evening was at one point three hours. Video posted to social media from a traveler appeared to show the crowds at Houston airport, with some reporting security lines lasting between four and five hours. Over the weekend, Houston Airport warned passengers to arrive as early as four hours before their flight, with TSA wait times exceeding 180 minutes. A post Sunday night from the airport acknowledged the wait times, saying it expects 2.2 million passengers to pass through the airport for spring break while the federal government remains shut down, with TSA employees going unpaid. Long waits were also reported at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, with airport officials saying a shortage of TSA agents at the security checkpoint was leading to “longer-than-average” lines. In a post on X early Monday, the airport advised passengers to arrive at least three hours before their scheduled flight time. “Wait times could be up to 2 hours,” the airport said. “The delays could continue through the rest of the week.” Why is the government shutdown? Agents with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration are expected to work without pay during the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which began Feb. 14. Democratic lawmakers have said DHS won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year. Chris Sununu, president and CEO of Airlines for America, a trade group for U.S. airlines, in a statement urged Congress and the Trump administration to act. “We are in spring break travel season and expecting record numbers of people to take to the skies. Airlines have done their part to prepare; now Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach a deal that reopens DHS and ends this shutdown,” he said. “America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.” This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less