UPDATE: March 30, 2026: The House voted Friday evening to pass a short-term funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, though the measure has “no viable path in the Senate,” NBC News reported. The ongoing funding lapse at DHS became the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history on Sunday, per NBC.
Dive Brief:
- Early Friday morning, the U.S. Senate approved a package to fund the Department of Homeland Security through the end of the fiscal year, with the exception of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, The Wall Street Journal reported. The measure could have ended a 42-day partial government shutdown that has caused significant travel disruptions nationwide as Transportation Security Administration officers remain unpaid.
- However, later Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the Senate-passed bill, according to a separate Wall Street Journal report. The move extends the shutdown, which has resulted in record wait times at airports and mounting flight cancellations.
- The American Hotel & Lodging Association applauded the Senate’s vote Friday, urging the House to pass the bill, which would allow President Donald Trump to sign it into law and end the shutdown. The association told Hotel Dive hoteliers have directly expressed that travel chaos resulting from the shutdown has been problematic.
Dive Insight:
Amid the partial government shutdown, “TSA employees have been forced to work without pay, placing an unfair burden on these essential workers and straining the entire travel ecosystem,” AHLA President and CEO Rosanna Maietta said in a statement. “The resulting long security lines at airports have caused thousands of missed flights and trip disruptions, underscoring the broader impact on travelers and businesses alike.”
Earlier in March, AHLA conducted a survey of more than 2,600 consumers that found roughly half (45%) were likely to modify upcoming travel plans due to ongoing disruptions from the shutdown — actions that would have a great impact on hotel owners, the association told Hotel Dive.
Asian American Hotel Owners Association President and CEO Laura Lee Blake similarly urged an end to the shutdown, calling on “immediate action to ensure full funding for TSA and the stability of our nation’s travel infrastructure.”
“While progress toward ending the shutdown is important, the damage is already being felt,” Blake told Hotel Dive Friday. “Disruptions to travel and ongoing uncertainty are impacting hotel owners and operators nationwide, particularly as we enter a critical period for business and group travel.”
The ongoing shutdown poses a threat to this summer’s FIFA World Cup, as the funding lapse for DHS means any new TSA workers won’t be trained in time to accommodate the surge of travelers expected for the upcoming event, NBC News reported. Anywhere between five million and seven million international visitors are expected to travel to the U.S. for the event, per the State Department.
Meanwhile, the Global Business Travel Association called on Congress to “immediately reach an agreement to end the ongoing government shutdown and finalize a budget that restores stability to our nation’s aviation system.” Ripple effects of the shutdown “are felt well beyond the terminal,” including across local economies and the broader travel and tourism sector, GBTA said in a Thursday release.
Travel and related sectors suffered $6.1 billion in total economic losses as a result of the 43-day U.S. government shutdown that lasted from Oct. 1 through Nov. 12, 2025. That shutdown, spanning all government departments, resulted in millions of dollars in lost hotel business.
According to Maietta, the “TSA workforce and the millions of travelers and businesses who rely on them cannot afford to wait any longer” for the ongoing partial government shutdown to end.
President Trump announced Thursday that he would sign an order to pay TSA officers who have gone without paychecks amid the DHS funding lapse, per NBC.
