00:00TSA says air travelers experienced the longest wait times in the 25-year history of the organization
00:05on Wednesday, all while its agents are still working for free. Well, that's depressing.
00:10The acting administrator told the House Homeland Security Committee that some people have waited
00:14for more than four and a half hours to clear security. They reiterated that the need to
00:19consolidate and close smaller airports altogether may soon be a reality. Also a reality, some
00:26desperate TSA employees who will miss another paycheck tomorrow have reportedly started
00:30selling their blood and sleeping in their cars just to make ends meet. Others are relying on food
00:36banks, going without medical care, or if they're lucky, digging into their savings should they have
00:41any. It's just horrible. Need any more evidence that this system is completely broken? After an
00:48actual glimmer of hope on Tuesday, it seems there is no end to this in sight. Now, I feel like
00:54I have
00:55asked this question 100 times since the shutdown began, but I'll ask it again. How long can this
01:00possibly last? The answer seems to be a while after negotiations between Democrats and Republicans
01:06broke down. I asked the Post's political reporter Ryan King all about that. Republicans have accused
01:11Democrats of adding to the list of things that they want in order to reopen the Department of Homeland
01:18Security. And Democrats that we've talked to have denied this. They've said that there are no
01:22new asks, but they're keeping up some of their old asks, including things that Senate Majority Leader
01:29John Thune has described as obvious non-starters for Republicans. We've known for some time that the
01:34two sides have been particularly at odds over two of the Democrats' demands. The first being
01:40foreign ICE officers from wearing masks, and the second being judicial warrant reforms. Republicans have
01:47drawn a red line on both those issues. But Democrats have been really insistent that those get added in.
01:55And it is important to note that Republicans feel that they've made a lot of big concessions to
02:01Democrats already. Of course, the idea earlier this week of funding everything in the Department of
02:07Homeland Security except the deportation wing of ICE was seen as a really significant concession for
02:12Republicans. They've also agreed to fund body cameras. The Trump administration has rolled out
02:18body cameras for ICE officers. They've agreed to make other ICE-related reforms. The Trump
02:25administration wound down its immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, and President Trump even
02:31fired Kristi Noem. So Republicans feel that they've given Democrats a lot, and Democrats are still
02:37pushing for more. So there are frustrations with that. John Thune told reporters on Wednesday that at this
02:45point, he's not even inclined to give another Republican counteroffer. And he says that Democrats
02:51just need to get serious.
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