As I’m sure you know, the government shutdown is still on. This is its 27th day, making it the second-longest in our country’s history (the longest one lasted 35 days, stretched from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019). Multiple government agencies are shut down entirely, with their workers furloughed, while others deemed “essential” have workers continuing to work, unpaid. On top of that, over 50 million Americans are at risk of losing food and nutrition aid if the shutdown continues into November.
It’s a mess.
For most travelers, the major government entities they’ll encounter, either directly or indirectly, are those who are TSA officers or air traffic controllers. both are those “essential workers” we mentioned – they’re still at work, but currently not getting paid for it. There have been some slowdowns reported here and there, and, anecdotally, they appear to be starting to increase in recent days. But so far it’s nothing like the “sick outs” that began to happen during the 2018-2019 shutdown (one during that shutdown, TSA reported that 10% of its officers were missing work for an unscheduled absence). At least, not yet.
However for travelers who need to get or renew their passport, TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, there are, of course, all kinds of concerns. Here’s what happening with all three – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Passports: good news, to an extent
Congressional appropriations don’t fund passport processing. Instead, processing is primarily funded by passport applications. So U.S. passport services aren’t directly impacted by the government shutdown. “Passports are funded through the U.S. Department of State and are primarily fee-funded, meaning passport issuance isn’t dependent on government funding,” says Sarah Silbert, managing editor for Points Path. This is much like the U.S. Postal Service, which is funded by postage prices.
And to prove that passport processing hasn’t been affected by the shutdown, you just have to look at the Department of State’s website: processing times remain the same as before the government shutdown (routine processing time is still four to six weeks, and expedited service is unchanged, at two to three weeks).
That being said, The State Department had said, before the shutdown started, that passport and visa services in the U.S. and abroad would continue as the budget permits. However, keep in mind that passport agencies located inside federal government buildings are closed during the shutdown, so delays could eventually happen, in time.
People who need last-minute passports could also see difficulty in getting their passport in time.
TSA PreCheck: good news
TSA PreCheck is also a fee-funded program, so applications remain open and they’re being processed at the same rate as before the shutdown.
Global Entry: Mixed bag of good & bad news
Global Entry is operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which, like TSA, is part of the Department of Homeland Security. During a government shutdown, many CBP employees are considered essential workers. Therefore airports and border ports of entry remain open, and the Global Entry kiosks at airports continue to work for international arrivals.
So if you already have Global Entry, you’ll still be able to use it to skip the customs line. However if you are in the midst of applying for Global Entry, or are renewing, then you may encounter some problems.
CBP’s interviewing staff, who are not considered to be “essential workers,” may or may not be on the job. Multiple users on Reddit have reported receiving the following email from CBP:
Please be advised that in the event of a government shutdown, all external government services, to include Global Entry appointments, will be cancelled. If your appointment is cancelled because of a government shutdown, you will need to reschedule your appointment once our scheduler is reopened.
However, there is some good news – if you are renewing your Global Entry, the government is currently allowing a grace period, like it did in their “backlogged for interviews” post-Covid time, and allowing those with lapsed Global Entry to keep using it at this time.
Feature Image (cropped): Bart Everson // flickr // CC BY 2.0
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
