Months after a record-long government shutdown that upended nutrition assistance, Connecticut Foodshare is once again providing groceries to TSA agents who are working without pay during the latest funding lapse for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The organization, which works with more than 600 food pantries across the state, is on its sixth week of distributing food to those workers at Bradley International Airport and Tweed New Haven Airport since the start of the partial shutdown on Feb. 14, according to president and CEO Jason Jakubowski.
Multiple missed paychecks and long TSA security wait times around the U.S. are pressuring Congress to resolve the standoff and fund the federal agency. Negotiations in the Senate are ongoing, but Republicans and Democrats have yet to reach a breakthrough and have rejected the other party’s proposals. That has both sides pointing fingers about who’s to blame for the chaos at airports.
Connecticut Foodshare delivers food for its distribution to TSA agents at Bradley and Tweed airports during the DHS shutdown. Foodshare says it’ll keep giving out groceries until workers get their back pay. Credit: Courtesy from CT Foodshare
TSA workers handling security screenings at airports are considered essential workers during government shutdowns. They go without paychecks while working, but once the agency gets funded, those employees receive back pay. Jakubowski said his group will continue its food distribution through mobile trucks until they get their back pay.
But the uncertainty around when the shutdown will end puts a lot of pressure on these workers, many of whom depend on timely paychecks to keep up with rent, groceries and other necessities. And that has led to higher rates of absences at airports around the country and some workers deciding to quit instead of forgoing pay indefinitely.
TSA agents at both Connecticut airports will miss their third paycheck this week since the start of the shutdown, which started 41 days ago. CT Foodshare has handed out thousands of pounds of food that is mostly shelf-stable — canned vegetables, canned fruit, pasta, rice, peanut butter — since many are picking up food while on the clock and need to store it. But they are still trying to give out fresh produce and frozen meat.
For CT Foodshare, emergency food distribution is familiar territory. The organization provided similar relief at an even larger scale last fall during the 45-day government shutdown that affected all federal agencies and threatened the monthly benefits of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
“We’re over at Tweed and we’re up at Bradley providing groceries for folks because we know that they’re strapped for cash. It’s a difficult time for them,” Jakubowski said in an interview with The Connecticut Mirror.
“We had to do this back in the fall, and we did this a couple of years ago during the partial government shutdown,” he added. “It breaks your heart when you see these folks that have to work and are not getting paid.”
The group once again needed to dip into its reserves since shutdown relief is not part of its budget. Foodshare also offered to provide food to the Coast Guard, which falls under the purview of Homeland Security. But it’s Jakubowski’s understanding that most of those workers are getting paid throughout the current shutdown. During the 2019 partial shutdown, the group set up pop-up food distributions around the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London.
The effort to provide some relief comes as Congress struggles to find a compromise to end the stalemate. Democrats want reforms — like a ban on masks for federal agents and a requirement to obtain judicial warrants to enter homes or businesses — before supporting funding for those agencies.
Both the House and the Senate have taken multiple votes to try to reopen Homeland Security since the start of the shutdown, including this week. Republicans have tried funding all of DHS, while Democrats have sought to advance measures that leave out immigration enforcement funding or pay TSA workers. But they have gone nowhere without a deal in place.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks to reporters following votes at the Capitol, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington. Credit: Allison Robbert / AP
In response to Republicans’ offer earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he still had concerns. While ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, wouldn’t get funded under the plan, money would still flow to Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol. He said those three “commingle all those dollars” and the latter two departments are also involved in enforcement operations.
“ERO is where all of the immigration enforcement happened, but the administration last year started ignoring appropriations law and thus we now have immigration enforcement happening” in other offices, Murphy, who serves as ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said Tuesday from the U.S. Capitol.
“They created this problem in which it’s really hard to address an immigration enforcement operation that’s out of control because it’s funded out of almost every part of the DHS budget,” he added later.
By the end of the day on Tuesday, the GOP-crafted deal that had President Donald Trump’s lukewarm support was dead. Democrats sent over a counteroffer Wednesday morning that included ICE guardrails, which was also shot down by Republicans.
“They’re asking for things that have already been turned down,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday. “So it just seems like they’re going in circles.”
When pressed about the path forward with TSA agents and other workers left in the lurch, Murphy said Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, are the ones who have rejected their proposals to provide immediate funding for the Transportation Security Administration.
“We do not have to hold TSA and the Coast Guard hostage. That’s their decision, not our decision. This could be settled in five minutes. TSA could be opened in five minutes,” Murphy told reporters on Wednesday.
“Maybe better than anybody, I know how long it takes to negotiate immigration policy, which is why Republicans should stop holding TSA and Coast Guard hostage to what is going to be a very hard negotiation on immigration. Open up TSA right now, and then we will continue to work out our differences on ICE,” Murphy said, referring to the bipartisan immigration deal he worked on in 2024 that ultimately failed.
The Senate has primarily dealt with the negotiations, even as there have been various efforts in the House to reopen the embattled agency.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, called the repeated House votes to fund DHS “political theater.” She urged Republican leaders to take up her bill that would fund most agencies within Homeland Security except for ICE, Border Patrol and the Office of the Secretary.
Because Republicans control the House, she has sought to force a vote on that legislation through a procedure called a discharge petition. She would need to collect at least 218 signatures to do so, and that would require some support from Republicans. No GOP members have signed onto her petition. It currently has 205 signatures — all from Democrats — including from the entire Connecticut delegation.
“They are picking and choosing whom they want to pay. They are holding these other employees hostage for political gain. They view it as a political strategy,” DeLauro said.
While major airports are grappling with hours-long lines, Connecticut’s airports haven’t dealt with the same issues.
“Since the start of the partial government shutdown, TSA operations at BDL have been normal,” Brian Spyros, public information officer for Connecticut Airport Authority, said in a statement.
Still, the uncertainty over when TSA and other workers will see a paycheck remains a critical issue. But even when the shutdown ends, CT Foodshare won’t immediately pack up their operations.
“Our plan is to continue providing this service until they get a paycheck, not until the shutdown is over,” Jakubowski said. “Because the shutdown is going to end, and it’s not like magically the next day people are going to get their paychecks.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
