PreCheck remains operational at US airports, including in DC area, despite partial shutdown

ARLINGTON, Va. — TSA PreCheck passengers have been cleared to carry on ... for now.

The program, which allows registered travelers a fast pass through airport security, would persist, according to the Transportation Security Administration. An earlier statement from its parent, the Department of Homeland Security, said PreCheck would be forced shut down due to the ongoing partial government shutdown.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Sunday, travelers could be seen checking in through PreCheck kiosks and walking through the specialized security parameter. The program intact, as just a few miles away, Members of Congress continued to debate whether to fund the DHS, as Democrats continue to call for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection practices in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Instead of shutting down PreCheck, TSA said it would specifically shutter programs that service those in Washington with the biggest influence on the agency's purse strings.

"Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America's skies," TSA wrote on its X account.

Doug Drouilard from sunny Tampa, Fla., was traveling through Reagan on Sunday after what he called a "reverse vacation" to D.C. The father of five said he was bewildered by the threat to PreCheck.

"I don't follow politics super hardcore, so I don't understand why this service would be affected," Drouilard told WUSA9. "It seems like this is what you pay taxes for, for services like this."

Funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is also a division of DHS, has also been threatened by the partial shutdown as a winter storm rears its cold, snowy head over the Northeastern United States.