WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to restart salaries for federal airport security agents after a growing crisis that backed up millions of travelers. House passage was expected quickly. For a month travelers were trapped in a growing mess at major hub airports. Affected also were travelers whose journeys had begun at feeder airports like Rochester and LaCrosse. Unpaid for weeks, a growing number of airport security agents, 500 at last count, refused to show up for shifts. Lines for pre-boarding ay airport magnetometers backed up and lopped around themselves. The anxiety was chaotic. Public disgust and anger grew. Airlines lobbied to end the crisis, which President Trump had created the problem by ordering his GOP minions in Congress to combine funds for airport agent salaries with new money for his unpopular ICE policing agency. Trump also wanted the package to include his priority project to suppress voting by unfriendly blocs in November’s mid-term election. His scheme fell apart at 2 a.m. when the Senate went for for airport security salaries but delayed decisions on ICE funding and voter suppression until a later day.
