A prolonged funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has triggered a severe shortage of security officers, resulting in chaotic scenes and hours-long delays for passengers at several U.S. airports. Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have resigned since February amid the DHS shutdown, which was triggered by Congress's failure to pass a budget. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials assigned to assist at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TSA screener absenteeism reached 50 percent that day, as reported by a CMG correspondent on the scene. Prompted by an airline notification, the reporter arrived three hours early. However, security clearance took more than 3.5 hours, causing him to miss his scheduled flight. On Thursday, President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he will sign an order to pay TSA workers to end the chaos, without providing any details. Just two days earlier, Senate Democrats rejected a Republican plan to fund DHS - a proposal supported by President Trump. The proposal would fund nearly all of DHS while allocating separate funding for ICE.