Agreed. Sounds as if the husband is NO-FLY. It's not that he's being boarded with extra security, but someone is telling the carrier not to board him at all.
If you contacted DHS via webform, that can take a long time and many never hear back at all.
Given that it appears that you will not be flying, I would head to the US Consulate. It will either get straightened out or not, but at least you will know.