Holiday travel at airports will not be affected by potential firings of unvaccinated federal workers, a senior Biden administration official said Monday, after thousands more Transportation Security Administration employees were vaccinated ahead of the government’s Monday deadline.
Of the TSA’s 60,000 employees, roughly 55,000, or nearly 93%, are in compliance with President Joe Biden’s September executive order that mandated all federal workers be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by Nov. 22 or face discipline, including termination.
“There aren’t going to be any disruptions to holiday travel from the vaccination requirement,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Marsha Espinosa wrote on Twitter Monday.
The 93% vaccination rate among TSA workers is an increase from 60% as of Oct. 20.
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Republican leaders on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure sent letters to TSA Administrator David Pekoske earlier this month, asking if the agency plans to fire unvaccinated blocs of its workforce in the coming days.
“We are concerned that vaccine mandates combined with a pre-existing worker shortage and anticipated return of holiday air travel demands are compounding and creating a perfect storm,” wrote Missouri Rep. Sam Graves, the top Republican on the committee, and Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, the top Republican on the aviation subcommittee.
“We are extremely concerned about what the vaccine mandate and potential firings might do to a National air transportation system already stretched to its limits,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that air travelers will not suffer through long lines, huge wait times, missed flights, or cancelled trips due to a shortage of fully vaccinated TSA screeners.”
The Thanksgiving holiday is among the busiest for TSA screeners and has historically set records for the most people screened in a day.
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At the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as airports where international travelers arrive, approximately 98% of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 20,000 officers are vaccinated, Espinosa said.
