Three-plus hour wait times at Hobby Airport have prompted thousands of spring break travelers to call for an end to the partial government shutdown, which is causing TSA employees to stop showing up to work for free. The delays, also reported in Georgia and Louisiana, are affecting smaller airports like Hobby because they have fewer checkpoints and employees. The shutdown began in mid-February as Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA and ICE. The political science professor at Rice University, Mark Jones, suggested that public pressure on the government shutdown could be the key to ending the crisis. He also suggested that if Democrats funded TSA, which falls under the purview of Homeland security, they would also be funding ICE.