Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have resorted to donating blood for cash while they continue to go without pay due to the partial government shutdown. 

Acting Deputy TSA Administrator, Adam Stahl, told CBS Mornings that agents are ‘drawing blood to afford to pay for gas to get to work’ as the partial shutdown, which affects all agencies under Homeland Security (DHS), continues with no end in sight. 

This is the second time TSA agents have gone without pay due to a shutdown, and they’ve already missed one full paycheck this time around. 

‘Our people are hurting,’ Stahl said. ‘We have individuals sleeping in their cars.’ 

Although Stahl did not specify which blood product his agents are donating for cash, whole blood donations typically do not pay, although some programs may offer gift cards or other perks. 

Plasma, a yellow liquid found in the blood, typically does offer cash payments. 

As the shutdown surpasses the one-month mark, more and more TSA agents are opting to call out of work, which is causing massive security lines at major airports. 

‘If the call rate does climb, there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports,’ Stahl warned to CBS Mornings. 

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have resorted to donating blood for cash to keep up with bills amidst the partial government shutdown 

Acting Deputy TSA Administrator, Adam Stahl, told CBS Mornings that agents are ‘drawing blood to afford to pay for gas to get to work’ (stock image)

‘This is a serious situation.’ 

Hundreds of agents have already quit, leaving only around 50,000 TSA workers going into work across the country, CBS Mornings reported. 

Spring Break travelers have been enduring hours-long lines, after being told to show up even earlier for a flight, or fear missing it. 

The longest lines were reported at some of the nation’s largest hubs, with New York City’s John F Kennedy International Airport reporting wait times of 43 minutes and the nearby Newark International Airport in New Jersey reporting wait times of 36 minutes.

Some Spring Break destinations were also seeing long lines, with Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu reporting wait times of up to 45 minutes as of 5pm on Wednesday. 

Orlando International Airport in Florida was reporting wait times of up to 24 minutes and Miami International Airport in Florida reported wait times of 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, lines to get through security were taking some passengers up to an hour after officials there said roughly 36 percent of Transportation Security Administration workers failed to show up to work.

The officers had to forego their first paycheck on Friday as Democrats and Republicans continue to spar over funding for the Department of Homeland Security following two fatal shootings of US citizens during immigration raids in Minnesota.

Hundreds of TSA agents have already quit, while plenty more are calling out of work, causing extensive lines at airports 

Now, unions representing the airport workers say they are starting to struggle financially.

‘Many are coping with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts,’ Aaron Baker, the president of a union representing Georgia’s TSA workers, said at a news conference outside Hartsfield-Jackson.

‘Every available financial option has been exhausted,’ he claimed, per WABE.

The backlog has caused the new DHS secretary nominee, Senator Markwayne Mullin, to beg during his confirmation hearing to get the agency funded. 

‘We have to get DHS funded,’ he said on Wednesday.