Trump facing pressure to restore Global Entry program

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

02/24/26 12:02 PM ET


The U.S. Travel Association on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to restore the Global Entry program after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suspended it following a federal funding lapse. The travel group said on the social platform X that suspending Global Entry as lawmakers fight over DHS funding “does the opposite of what” the department intends by increasing security risks, swelling line sizes and stretching personnel thin. Global Entry allows pre-screened travelers arriving in the U.S. to pass through customs more quickly.

“Global Entry is far more than a convenience; it is on the front line of national security,” the association said in a separate post. “Its more than 13 million members undergo rigorous background checks, interviews and vetting.” “Suspending it doesn’t just slow lines,” the post continues. “It increases costs and strips away a layer of security infrastructure that took years to build. The program is primarily funded by the $120 fee that members pay. There is no fiscal — or logical — rationale for this decision.”

DHS said it paused Global Entry as a means to “preserve limited funds and personnel.” On Sunday, the department reversed course on its suspension of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) PreCheck program following concern from the traveling public and airline industry groups.

The administration is also facing pressure from lawmakers, with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) saying President Trump “should be focused on working with us on real solutions, not inflicting pain for American travelers as a political stunt.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5752442-trump-dhs-global-entry-program/

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Link to tweet

U.S. Travel
@USTravel
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Suspending Global Entry Defies Logic. It Doesn't Save Resources—It Wastes Them.

Statement from @USTravel CEO Geoff Freeman on the suspension of Global Entry:

"Global Entry is a force multiplier for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that saves the government tens of millions Show more
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10:11 AM · Feb 24, 2026

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The program is primarily funded by the $120 fee that members pay. There is no fiscal — or logical — rationale for this decision.”

As you have seen me post before about the parallel "TSA PreCheck" - if the government has fee-based programs, then that money is NOT "Budget Authority" (coming out of the Appropriations from Congress). The hours that employees work on those programs that utilize those fees are CLOSELY TRACKED to determine how many FTEs (Full Time Equivalents) worth of time is to be allotted to that type of program work.

I really feel sorry for the Fiscal staff in any agency forced to work under this dunderhead regime.

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143620239
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143620510
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143620772

[mainer]

1. Global Entry lines actually RELIEVE personnel of work

Passengers zip through it using electronic kiosks, and a single CBP agent can screen many more passengers this way. It makes no sense to shut it down, except to annoy passengers.

[EuterpeThelo]

2. It's obvious why they're doing this

to try to piss off the public enough that we demand the Dems cave on ICE funding because we don't want to wait for an hour in the regular line.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

4. It is also

Because they know US Global Entry users all have US Passports and have traveled enough to know the damage Trump is doing and do not support him or his Republican enablers.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. They could move all those "Customs and Border Protection" employees to the actual border

to process people crossing the border. That would be an innovation! Instead of them kidnapping 5 year olds and murdering US citizens, in cities hundreds of miles from any border. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement" too - send them to where the immigration is happening.