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Security Security Administration (TSA) officers help travelers drop off their luggage in a security check area during a partial federal closure on Monday, December 31, 2018 at the 39, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington State. (Associated Press)
A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security criticized CNN on Friday for calling the "false news" network report that hundreds of Transport Security Administration controllers at airports across the country are organizing a "sick outing" "This week in a Partial Government"
In a tweet, DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton accused the network of not validating his data and not contacting agency officials for verification.
"More @CNN's #FakeNews." Security operations at airports have not been done CNN has the mobile number of several @TSA public affairs professionals, but rather than validate statistics, they have them falsely distorted, "reads the tweet.
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Meanwhile, the TSA tweeted a more measured response stating that employee absences had started during the holidays but had had minimal impact on security operations.
vacation period and have increased but have minimal impact since 51,739 employees support the filtering process, "said the tweet." TSA is grateful to the agents who come to work, who remain focused on the mission and respectful of the traveling public. "
Even in the midst of the closure, TSA agents are mandated to work without pay.
Employee Union officials told The New York Times While TSA employees at several major airports had called for health reasons since the center closed, more than 150 people were called Friday by Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to the newspaper.
An unnamed federal official said phone calls seemed to be part of a coordinated protest, but union officials said that Many employees who had called for sick people were most likely looking for another job to make up for lost wages.
A spokesman for the TSA told the Times that waiting time for passengers to board flights could increase if calls persisted, and that the agency "is grateful to agents who come to work and remain focused on the mission and respectful towards the traveling public as it continues the important work necessary to secure the country's transportation systems. "
The concern over staffing airport security staff has speculated on whether Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would keep her job.
Administrator David Pekoske recently urged President Trump to keep Nielsen despite reports that the president had become frustrated with his leadership.
"I have been working for Secretary Nielsen for a little over a year now and, in my opinion, she is an outstanding Secretary of Homeland Security," said Pekoske, according to the Washington Examiner . "And she really supported me a lot as a TSA administrator, very interested in our issues and, importantly, very involved in our workforce."
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