While this article is about the IRS, it rings true for TSA employees.
“I’m at the point where I cannot afford to go to work,” said Marissa Scott, 31, an IRS customer service representative who is out on hardship leave. Scott lives outside Kansas City, Mo., and drives 98 miles round trip to work each day. “I cannot afford to fill my gas tank.”
In Andover, Mass., more than 100 customer service representatives, electronic filing workers and other IRS employees plan to use the hardship exemption and won’t report to work, said Gary Karibian, chapter president of a local union.“I would say a majority of employees are calling out under hardship,” Karibian said. “I’m getting reports whole teams are requesting out. One person told me, ‘I’m the only one on my team here.’ ”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.f12b639a504c
For the major airports, I would wager a vast majority of TSA employees arrive by public transport. That means on Feb 1 they will be expected to put down $100-$200 cash for a bus or train pass for the month. Most of these folks are commuting for "free" because they bought a January pass in December, when they expected the shutdown to end quickly.
If the shutdown continues until February, I expect to see a big spike in call-outs at airports like Newark, JFK, Logan, etc