Por Alexandra Skores, CNN

Los viajeros que estuvieron atrapados durante horas en las filas de seguridad del aeropuerto esta semana son las últimas víctimas de un cierre parcial del gobierno que se ha prolongado durante casi un mes.

Los fondos del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional se agotaron a mediados de febrero en medio de un impasse entre republicanos y demócratas sobre la reforma migratoria. Ahora, los inspectores de la Administración de Seguridad en el Transporte (TSA, por sus siglas en inglés) están a punto de perder su sueldo justo cuando la temporada de viajes de las vacaciones de primavera se intensifica.

Esto es lo que está pasando y cuándo podrían desaparecer las largas colas.

Los pasajeros que intentan volar -y las personas que los controlan- se ven atrapados en una pelea políticamente cargada.

El DHS es la última agencia federal que no recibe fondos del Congreso para el resto del año fiscal, que termina el 30 de septiembre. En cambio, se aprobaron una serie de extensiones a corto plazo, pero la última de ellas, que solo proporcionó dinero para dos semanas de operaciones, expiró hace casi un mes.

En total, unos 61.000 empleados de la TSA deben seguir trabajando durante el cierre. Muchos viven al día, declaró Ha Nguyen McNeill, alto funcionario que desempeña las funciones de administrador de la TSA, en su testimonio escrito ante una audiencia del subcomité de la Cámara de Representantes antes de que caducara la financiación.

Los empleados de la TSA recibieron solo un cheque de pago parcial el 28 de febrero y perderán su primer cheque de pago completo el 14 de marzo. Como resultado aparente, un número cada vez mayor de inspectores están tomando tiempo libre no programado.

El punto de fricción en el Congreso es la reforma migratoria. El DHS no solo incluye a la TSA, sino también a más de 20 agencias de alto perfil, como la Guardia Costera, la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias (FEMA, por sus siglas en inglés), la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBPpor sus siglas en inglés) y el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE,por sus siglas en inglés).

Los demócratas del Senado pidieron cambios a las reglas que rigen las operaciones de control de inmigración después de más de una docena de incidentes en Minneapolis en enero, incluidos dos en los que ciudadanos estadounidenses fueron asesinados a tiros . Los republicanos se han resistido a los cambios.

Si bien la mayoría de los más de 430 aeropuertos comerciales de EE.UU. cuentan con personal de la TSA, algunos lugares han experimentado un impacto descomunal.

Las filas de seguridad en el Aeropuerto William P. Hobby de Houston se extendieron durante más de tres horas el domingo y el lunes, según informó la agencia. El aeropuerto sigue recomendando a los pasajeros llegar de cuatro a cinco horas antes de sus vuelos.

El Aeropuerto Internacional Louis Armstrong de Nueva Orleans informó que las esperas de la TSA pueden extenderse hasta dos horas. Se recomendó a los pasajeros llegar al menos tres horas antes de su vuelo.

Otros aeropuertos que registraron largos tiempos de espera fueron el Aeropuerto Internacional Hartsfield-Jackson de Atlanta, el Aeropuerto Internacional Charlotte Douglas y el Aeropuerto Intercontinental George Bush en Houston.

Las líneas TSA PreCheck permanecen abiertas en la mayoría de los aeropuertos.

El programa permite a los viajeros que pasan un proceso de verificación y pagan una tarifa pasar por un control de seguridad más rápido. El DHS anunció el m

Por Taylor Romine y Gloria Pazmiño, CNN

Este sábado, dos hombres de Pensilvania siguieron la ruta de miles de personas al cruzar el puente George Washington hacia la ciudad de Nueva York. Pero menos de una hora después, su trayectoria dio un giro sombrío al ser arrestados por lanzar bombas caseras durante una protesta antimusulmana frente a la casa del alcalde Zohran Mamdani.

Emir Balat, de 18 años, e Ibrahim Kayumi, de 19, fueron acusados ​​el lunes de brindar apoyo material a una organización terrorista y utilizar un arma de destrucción masiva, entre otros cargos, después de que lanzaron dos dispositivos explosivos mejorados, también conocidos como IED, durante una protesta, según una denuncia penal presentada en un tribunal federal.

Los hombres dijeron a las autoridades que se habían inspirado en ISIS, el grupo terrorista que ha resurgido en los últimos años.

“Este fue un ataque planeado motivado por una ideología extremista e inspirado por una violenta organización terrorista extranjera”, declaró la comisionada del Departamento de Policía de Nueva York, Jessica Tisch, en una conferencia de prensa.

Los acontecimientos ocurren mientras la ciudad se acerca al final del mes sagrado islámico de Ramadán, y todo ello ocurre frente a la residencia del primer alcalde musulmán de la ciudad.

Mientras los investigadores indagan sobre los vínculos de los dos hombres con ISIS y sus motivaciones, esto es lo que sabemos sobre la situación.

El sábado, una protesta antiislámica organizada por el influencer de derecha Jake Lang atrajo a unas 20 personas, y unas 125 acudieron a una contraprotesta denominada “Expulsen a los nazis de Nueva York”, según Tisch.

La protesta tuvo lugar cerca de la Mansión Gracie, la residencia del alcalde.

Los grupos permanecieron en sus áreas designadas, pero las tensiones aumentaron cuando un manifestante asociado con el grupo de Lang roció con gas pimienta a los contramanifestantes alrededor de las 12:15 p.m., agregó.

Veinte minutos después, un contramanifestante, identificado posteriormente en los documentos judiciales como Balat, “lanzó un artefacto explosivo hacia la zona de la protesta”, que aterrizó en un cruce peatonal, según Tisch.

Un video muestra a los manifestantes y a la policía dispersándose rápidamente para evitar el artefacto.

“Los testigos informaron haber visto llamas y humo mientras viajaba por el aire antes de chocar contra una barrera y extinguirse a unos metros de los agentes de policía”, declaró el comisionado.

Balat luego recuperó un segundo dispositivo de Kayumi antes de encenderlo y echar a correr, según la denuncia. Dejó caer el segundo dispositivo en la calle, donde pareció emitir humo, pero tampoco explotó, según Tisch.

Balat y Kayumi fueron arrestados tras el lanzamiento de los artefactos, informó Tisch.

El lunes, fueron acusados ​​de brindar apoyo material a una organización terrorista, usar un arma de destrucción masiva, transportar materiales explosivos; posesión ilegal de artefactos destructivos; y transporte interestatal y recepción de explosivos, de acuerdo con la denuncia.

El manifestante antiislámico acusado de usar gas pimienta también fue arrestado, y otros tres fueron detenidos bajo sospecha de alteración del orden público y obstrucción del tráfico, agregó Tisch.

Mamdani afirmó que él y su esposa, Rama Duwaji, no estaban en casa durante la protesta.

Balat y Kayumi hicieron comentarios diciendo que sus acciones estaban relacionadas con ISIS, según las autoridades.

Mientras colocaban a Kayumi en un vehículo del Departamento de Policía de Nueva York, las imágenes d

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Investors rattled by the war in Iran have sent oil prices skyrocketing – and global governments have noticed. The world’s biggest economies are now considering emergency releases of millions of barrels of oil into the market.

But while that might sound like a lot, experts say even tens of millions of barrels are more like a drop in the bucket when it comes to global oil needs.

That’s because the world, and the US, uses so much oil every single day that even a relatively large one-time release won’t be able to offset the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil shipments that’s been effectively shut down by the war.

“It’s not zero, but the effect is likely to be pretty small,” said Daniel Raimi, a fellow at energy think tank Resources for the Future, on a coordinated release. “When you sort of consider the volume of global oil trade, just around 100 million barrels per day, even a coordinated SPR (strategic petroleum reserve) release will have a modest impact on global oil prices.”

‘We went artificially up’

The G7 group of large economies have hinted they could release oil, but they haven’t committed to anything yet.

“We stand ready to take necessary measures, including to support global supply of energy such as stockpile release,” the G7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, said in a statement after a Monday meeting.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled up nearly 7% Monday, to $98.96 per barrel, the highest settlement price since 2022.

President Donald Trump similarly made no promises on Monday.

“We’re looking to keep the oil prices down. We went artificially up because of this excursion,” he said at a press conference. “I knew oil prices would go up if I did this, and they’ve gone up, probably less than I thought they’d go up.”

A brief pause?

After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine drove up oil prices, the G7 coordinated a release of 240 million barrels from their own holdings, including 180 million barrels from the US SPR.

Gas prices did come down from their $5-a-gallon peak in June 2022, but experts say the G7 oil release helped only marginally. An analysis by the Treasury Department in July 2022 found that it only lowered gas prices by 17 cents to 42 cents a gallon.

“If not for the SPR releases, we likely would have had gas above $5 a gallon for a number of weeks (in 2022) rather than just for a few days,” said Tom Kloza, an independent oil analyst and an advisor to Shell Oil.

The most important factor to bring oil prices down now is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been virtually shut to tanker traffic. Twenty percent of the world’s oil flows through the narrow channel.

“Unless the Strait of Hormuz traffic resumes soon and continues, SPR releases will just cause a brief pause before crude oil prices resume marching higher,” said Bob McNally, president and founder of Rapidan’s Energy Group.

With global oil consumption at about 100 million barrels per day, no one-time release can make up for closing the strait for an extended period of time.

And if the war drags on, releasing SPR oil today will limit future options.

America’s SPR had about 600 million barrels of oil heading into the Ukraine war. Today, it stands at 415 million barrels.

“The thing about the emergency stockpiles is you can only use them once,” said Neil Atkinson, visiti

By Jeremy Herb, Annie Grayer, Jennifer Hansler, Sean Lyngaas, Gabe Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump began his second term with a promise to cut “billions and billions of dollars” in government spending, empowering Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate programs and fire workers it deemed wasteful.

One year later, cuts to programs and personnel at federal agencies that had been declared unneeded mere months ago have hampered the US government’s abilities to prepare for domestic emergencies; monitor terror threats; guard against cyber-attacks; broadcast US information into Iran; and quickly help US citizens stranded abroad, current and former government officials told CNN.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans have long criticized the way that DOGE and the Trump administration slashed government programs, warning it harmed the US domestically and abroad. Now the cuts, which continued even after Musk left government last spring, are again being scrutinized as US strikes on Iran have sparked a war that’s spilled out across the Middle East.

“I think it went overboard. I thought it was too aggressive, too fast, too soon,” GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said of the DOGE cuts.

A former FBI special agent and federal prosecutor, Fitzpatrick told CNN he was against the way DOGE took a “sledgehammer” to agencies, and that lawmakers should look at whether there are “any negative implications from what was done through that process (and) if it’s having any negative impact on any aspect of our government, including our national security and national defense.”

The funding cuts did not appear to have affected the military’s funding for the war — though DOGE did propose nixing some programs at the Pentagon. Still, lawmakers are already talking about the need to pass supplemental funding to give the Defense Department tens of billions more for the war.

The Trump administration and Republicans argue that it’s Democrats who have harmed government preparedness to threats by not funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is shut down as the two parties point fingers over who’s to blame.

“Despite the Democrats’ decision to shut down the Department of Homeland Security, the Trump Administration is working diligently to ensure government security apparatuses continue to operate at the highest levels – and they are,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Some Republicans also say the impact of the DOGE cuts to the government’s war response is overstated. GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who chairs the House subcommittee that oversees the State Department and related national security budgets, maintained that the DOGE cuts only eliminated waste and did not impact the country’s ability to go to war with Iran.

The spending legislation he helped pass through Congress gave more money to US allies to confront China and Iran, he argued.

“We put more money, actual real hard money, into helping our allies confronting our adversaries” Diaz-Balart told CNN. “What we did is we got rid of all this trash that was there.”

‘We’re plainly seeing the consequences’

The Read more

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Travelers stuck in line for hours at airport security this week are the latest victims of a partial government shutdown that has dragged on for nearly a month.

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed in mid-February amid a standoff between Republicans and Democrats over immigration reform. Now, Transporation Security Administration screeners are about to miss a paycheck just as the Spring Break travel season heats up.

Here’s what’s going on and when the long lines might go away.

How we got here

Passengers trying to take to the skies – and the people who screen them – are caught in a politically charged fight.

DHS is the last federal agency not funded by Congress for the rest of the fiscal year, which runs until September 30. Instead, a series of short term extensions were approved, but the last one of those – which only provided money for two weeks of operations – ran out nearly a month ago.

In total, about 61,000 TSA employees must keep working during the shutown. Many live paycheck to paycheck, Ha Nguyen McNeill, a senior official performing the duties of TSA administrator, said in written testimony for a House subcommittee hearing before the funding lapsed.

TSA employees received only a partial paycheck on February 28, and will miss their first full paycheck on March 14. As an apparent result, an increasing number of the screeners are taking unscheduled time off.

The congressional sticking point is immigration reform. DHS not only includes TSA, but also over 20 high-profile agencies – including the the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Senate Democrats called for changes to rules governing immigration enforcement operations after more than a dozen incidents in Minneapolis in January, including two where US citizens were fatally shot. Republicans have resisted the changes.

These are the airports being hit the hardest

While most of the more than 430 commercial airports in the US have TSA staff, some locations have seen an outsized impact.

Security lines at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport stretched for more than three hours on Sunday and Monday, the agency reported. The airport was advising passengers to arrive four to five hours before their flights but reduced the recommendation to three to four hours Monday night.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport said Monday TSA waits can extend up to two hours and advised passengers to arrive at least three hours before their flight. By late afternoon the airport reported the wait times of up to an hour and said passengers should arrive at least two hours before their flight.

Other airports that saw long wait times included Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Charlotte Douglas International, and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

Is PreCheck still open?

TSA PreCheck lines remain open at most airports.

The program allows travelers who pass a verification process and pay a fee to go through a quicker security screening. DHS said last month they would be closed due to the shutdown so agents could focus on the standard screening lanes, but the department Read more