The most visual impact of the partial government shutdown remains the slowdowns at airports and long lines for TSA checkpoints.

Those TSA agents, as well as other DHS officials, have already missed a partial paycheck and a full paycheck. Growing numbers of TSA officials are calling in sick and not showing up to work.

At George W Bush Airport in Houston and Atlanta's airport on Thursday, 38% of TSA agents called out sick.

Here are tips for managing your travel during the slowdown:

Check security wait time conditions at your local airport early and often If you are stuck in a long TSA lines, ask for an estimated wait time If you're worried about missing your flight, call your airline while you're still waiting in the TSA line

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The funding gap for the Department of Homeland Security is now hitting five weeks. And while Democrats and Republicans and the white House are continuing to discuss and negotiate, it does not appear that they are close to a deal.

Democrats, Republicans and a white House officials sat down behind closed doors Thursday to continue to negotiate possible changes to immigration enforcement.

Republicans coming out of that meeting said there were good faith discussions happening and both sides are really trying to work together. But it's unclear what the points of contention are and where they still disagree.

One Democrat coming out of that meeting said the two sides are still very far apart.

The Senate is expected to work through the weekend, and talks about DHS funding can presumably continue during that time. We are also going to be looking ahead to the first potential Senate floor vote for DHS Secretary nominee, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, next week.

One year after Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, industries see mixed results and higher consumer costs

While many of President Trumps most sweeping tariffs were recently struck down by the Supreme Court, the ones levied against steel and aluminum remain intact. One year later, the tariffs continue to impact the industry and the businesses that rely on it.

Trump initially imposed a 25% tariff on foreign aluminum, copper, lumber, and steel, later doubling the rate for steel and aluminum.

"I have also imposed a 25-percent tariff on foreign aluminum, copper, lumber, and steel," Trump previously said.

"Were going to bring it from 25 percent to 50 percent," Trump later added.

RELATED STORY | Trump increases tariffs on steel and aluminum, which will likely increase consumer prices

Many in the industry say the higher tariffs have helped them by driving up the price of foreign-made metals and pushing manufacturers to buy domestically.

Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, noted the benefits to domestic producers.

"The impact has been very positive for the industry. We've seen imports of steel decline," Dempsey said.

"Those imports have gone down about 12.5% over last year, and that's allowed the U.S. industry to increase production and increase sales of domestically produced steel," Dempsey said.

Steel shipments were up nearly 5% last year compared to 2024.

But for many businesses and consumers that use steel and aluminum, the tariffs have meant higher costs. In many cases, that is being passed on to consumers.

Scott Breen, president of the Can Manufacturers Institute, which represents can makers and their suppliers, pointed out challenges predicted by many economists. Tariffs can help domestic producers, but they drive up costs for industries and consumers who need those materials.

"These tariffs on aluminum and steel have added a significant cost that can makers, farmers, food producers, consumers need to absorb," Breen said.

According to the latest Producer Price Index report released Wednesday, the price of domestic steel mill products was up more than 20% from a year ago, and aluminum was up nearly 40%.

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"Unfortunately, with these tariffs, it's a cost that has to be absorbed, and it gets passed along the value chain, oftentimes ultimately to that consumer," Breen said.

Despite soaring material costs, the price of a new car has gone up just about 2% from a year ago, according to Cox Automotive. That adds about $1,000 to the sticker price.

There are two reasons for this: parts like steel and aluminum are just a small part of what goes into a car, and some automakers said they will absorb some of the price increases instead of passing them onto consumers.

25 days into a partial government shutdown, Americans are dealing with delays at major airports as TSA workers, required to work without pay, are now failing to show up to work. And that has led to long lines in Houston and New Orleans.

Democrats and Republicans both expressed concerns Tuesday about the fact that the country is actively at war while the Department of Homeland Security is not fully funded.

But there is still not a clear path towards what a compromise might look like.

Republicans said Tuesday that they are ready and willing to sit down and negotiate, saying they put down an offer to Democrats 12 days ago that they say hasn't been responded to.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rejected the idea that Democrats aren't responding to offers from Republicans, saying that Democrats are in constant communication with the White House. Sen. Schumer put the blame on the White House for not being willing to budge on the issues of funding ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said Tuesday that Democrats and Republicans are still very far apart on that issue. But he said Democrats don't want to hold the rest of the agency and the rest of DHS' funding up just because they disagree about those two departments.

"It is the Republicans that are blocking the reopening of these critical agencies. It is true that we are still far apart on the question of ICE. It is also true that there is no reason at all to hold TSA, the Coast Guard or FEMA hostage while our negotiations continue," Sen. Schatz said.

"Obviously, cybersecurity falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, border security, you go right down the list. FEMA. These are agencies that have a profound impact on the safety and security of the American people and the Democrats have opted to, in the most cynical way, play politics," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

Sen. Thune has planned a procedural vote on another bill to fund DHS for later this week. But it's not clear that Democrats and Republicans are any closer to actually striking a deal that would allow that procedural vote to be successful.

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Meanwhile, Democrats are vowing to shut down the Senate over the war in Iran.

They say they are not satisfied with answers they received Tuesday from the executive branch during a classified briefing on the war.

"What was unsatisfactory was the lack of answers and certainly credible answers that we deserve and more important the American people deserve," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). "There seem to be more questions than answers and a total lack of clarity, after a week of war, about why seven Americans have died in the service of this country."

Senate Democrats have not yet detailed exactly what a blockade of Senate business might entail.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently changed how it analyzes raw data in its monthly jobs report, updating a formula known as the "birth-death model" starting in January.

The birth-death model is designed to estimate jobs created by new businesses and jobs lost when companies close before those changes show up in official records.

"In order to get the data out quickly, they make assumptions about the pace at which new businesses are being formed, births, and new businesses that are actually failing, deaths," Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG U.S., said.

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Because new job gains and losses aren't immediately measured, the monthly report relies on estimates and that's why the government makes revisions months after the numbers are originally reported.

The new formula for the birth-death model is designed to limit that.

"What it's doing is assuming a much lower rate of new firm births and a higher rate of new firm deaths because that's what actually happened," Swonk said.

That should lead to more accurate figures and less drastic revisions, according to John Stewart, a supervisory economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"It should lower the error in our monthly estimates of the over the month change, such that our annual revisions will become smaller," Stewart said.

But data experts like Eric Pachman, a data analyst and founder of Data 4 the People, say the monthly report is still far from perfect.

"This is a model. Non-farm payroll is a model. All models have error," Pachman said.

"It's good, but it's not perfect," Pachman added.

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Ultimately, economists say the monthly data should be looked at as a likely baseline but not as the definitive bottom line.

"The goal is to get, as you know, accurate as possible, as timely as possible. But in some cases, we find when the world shifts dramatically and we're standing on fault lines a lot these days, that ends up sort of wreaking havoc on some of the data and some of revisions," Swonk said.

The February jobs report comes out Friday morning. In January, it showed the U.S. added 130,000 jobs. Economists are expecting about 60,000 jobs were added in February, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees continue to work without pay during an ongoing partial government shutdown, as lawmakers remain at a stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

About 61,000 Transportation Security Administration employees clocked into work this week not knowing when they'll get paid due to the shutdown. They're one of several agencies affected, which include FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service and parts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Many TSA employees are still feeling the impacts from the last government shutdown. In a congressional hearing on February 11, Acting TSA Director Ha Nguyen McNiel told Congress the agency lost over 1,000 agents in October and November last year many of them attributing their departure to the 43-day government shutdown.

Many were subject to late fees for missed bill payments, eviction notices, loss of childcare, and more, said McNiel. Some are just now recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown. Many are still reeling from it.

TSA is focusing on surge staffing as big events like the World Cup come to the United States. But with yet another shutdown, those efforts could be severely impacted.

Because of a 2019 bill signed into law during President Trump's first administration... furloughed and essential employees, like TSA agents, will receive backpay once Congress approves a budget for DHS. But a delayed paycheck can still put families in a tough financial position when their bills keep coming in.

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Democrats and Republicans have been unable to compromise on DHS funding, with Democratic lawmakers calling for changes to immigration enforcement across the United States.

Their proposals include a ban on face masks worn by federal immigration officials, requiring judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, mandating body cameras on all agents, and establishing a standard uniform with a badge, identification number and last name prominently displayed.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday that Democrats also dont want to see law abiding immigrants being swept up as part of the Trump administrations crackdown on illegal immigration. Republicans have not agreed to all of the proposals, leaving DHS funding unresolved.

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While immigration enforcement has been central to the dispute, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection arent expected to be affected as much by the shutdown as they received billions of dollars in funding through President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law last year.

Meanwhile, the shutdown is likely to continue for now, as Congress is recessed until next week.

Executives from Waymo and Tesla faced questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday amid scrutiny over their self-driving car technology.

Currently, there is a state-by-state patchwork of safety regulations on autonomous vehicles. But Congress is seeking to move forward with legislation that would create national regulations for self-driving cars, which have increased their presence in major U.S. cities in recent years.

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Members of the Senate Commerce Committee expressed a bipartisan desire for federal action to regulate the industry, saying current laws have not kept pace with technological advancements. Meanwhile, Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy sought to highlight the benefits of autonomous vehicles, including reducing drunken or distracted driving and reducing traffic deaths.

"I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that the next big jump we have in reducing the number from 40,000 [traffic deaths a year] to hopefully a day where it's zero is autonomous driving," Moravy said. "Simply put, an autonomous driver the system, the computer that operates it doesn't sleep, doesn't blink and doesn't get tired."

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Lawmakers acknowledged the promise of self-driving cars but also stressed that safety improvements are needed. They also discussed questions of liability whether it should fall on a driver or manufacturer in the event of a crash.

Officials for Waymo and Tesla said their autonomous vehicles were built to comply with existing federal rules, but those regulations were written decades before self-driving technology became a reality.