Kristi Noem sent travelers into a panic Sunday by announcing TSA PreCheck was being suspended—only for airport security officials to quickly step in and say the program was still up and running.
The homeland security secretary said her agency planned to pause TSA PreCheck and Global Entry in order to “refocus Department personnel on the majority of travelers.”
But within minutes, TSA contradicted Noem’s announcement, confirming that PreCheck “remains operational.”
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” a TSA spokesperson told The Daily Beast in an email. “As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly.”
The current status of Global Entry is unclear. The Daily Beast reached out to Customs and Border Protection, which handles the process, for an update. The Daily Beast also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for clarification on travel guidance.
Aviation experts criticized Noem’s decision to suspend the widely relied-on programs, saying it would make security less efficient.
Democrats accused her of using the measures to retaliate against her department’s partial shutdown. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the top Democrat on the Committee on Homeland Security, told the New York Times that the Trump administration is “purposely punishing the American people.”
Noem put the blame on Democrats for the TSA PreCheck and Global entry suspension as well as other measures her department implemented in light of the shutdown. DHS also paused courtesy and family police escorts for Congress and “non-disaster-related Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response efforts” as an intense bomb cyclone is expected to hit the Northeast.
“The American people depend on this department every day, and we are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians,” she said in a press release.
Congress has halted funding to the DHS as Democrats and Republicans have been at an impasse during this latest partial government shutdown. Dems have tried to secure new restrictions on ICE following the killings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents.
The killings sparked nationwide protests against ICE and the Trump Administration’s brutal immigration policies. Simultaneously, public opinion toward Trump’s immigration tactics has taken a massive dip, adding to his already abysmal approval ratings.
Noem won’t have to deal with the travel chaos she unleashed—she’s known to jet around the country with her alleged lover-turned-adviser, Corey Lewandowski, aboard a leased Boeing 737 MAX 8 with a private cabin.
