Unpaid TSA, Congress Tours Scottish Castle

While DHS and TSA workers go without pay, photos of roughly 30 House Republicans touring Scotland have reignited the feeling that Washington’s rules rarely apply to Washington.

Quick Take

TMZ published photos showing about 30 U.S. lawmakers—mostly Republicans tied to the House Main Street Caucus—touring Edinburgh Castle during a partial DHS shutdown.
The Department of Homeland Security has been unfunded since February 14, and the lapse stretched past 47 days as the images circulated.
Supporters of the trip say it was a pre-approved congressional delegation focused on economic development and meetings with U.K. officials.
Critics argue the optics are indefensible while border security agencies and TSA staff operate under pay delays and uncertainty.

Photos from Edinburgh collide with a 47-day DHS funding lapse

TMZ reported that approximately 30 members of Congress were spotted at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland while a partial federal shutdown left the Department of Homeland Security without funding. The lapse began February 14 after a budget impasse, and the shutdown period reached the mid-40s in days when the images drew widespread attention. The story landed because DHS touches daily life—TSA lines, border operations, and security functions—yet many workers faced delayed pay.

TMZ framed the images as lawmakers “vacationing” during a crisis, emphasizing the contrast between sightseeing overseas and federal personnel going unpaid at home. Later reporting cited Semafor’s confirmation that “several dozen” lawmakers associated with the House Main Street Caucus were part of the trip. That additional context matters, because it shifts the question from “who fled Washington” to “why did official travel proceed while DHS remained unfunded?”

Who went, who approved it, and what’s known about the purpose

Reports named multiple House members in the group, including Reps. Claudia Tenney, Jason Smith, Derrick Van Orden, John McGuire, David Rouzer, Juan Ciscomani, Mike Flood, Andrew Garbarino, Mike Lawler, Greg Murphy, and Bill Huizenga. According to the coverage, the House Ethics Committee had approved the travel months earlier. That approval undercuts claims the trip was improvised, but it does not resolve whether the timing was responsible during an extended lapse in DHS funding.

A spokesperson for Rep. Derrick Van Orden defended the travel as pre-approved and centered on economic development, foreign partnerships, and meetings with Parliament and officials. Van Orden also referenced a personal family milestone after his wife’s surgery, suggesting the interruption by media attention was unwelcome. The Daily Beast said it contacted named lawmakers and did not detail further responses beyond the defense already on record, leaving the public with limited direct explanations from most participants.

Taxpayer funding questions and what remains unclear

The biggest factual gap is the funding detail. The reporting suggested the trip was likely an official CODEL, which commonly involves government travel mechanisms and per diem expenses, but neither story provided a definitive accounting of who paid for what. During shutdowns, congressional travel is often curtailed or politically discouraged, which is why this instance drew attention. Without an itemized cost disclosure, readers are left with an optics-driven debate rather than a clean, auditable set of facts.

Why this story lands with conservatives who are tired of “business as usual”

The anger is not complicated: when government fails to do the basics—fund core security agencies and pay workers—ordinary Americans expect elected officials to feel the urgency. Conservative voters who already distrust Washington’s spending habits see the photos and hear “pre-approved,” then ask why basic accountability feels optional for the political class. The story also highlights a structural problem: Congress can let essential agencies drift into funding limbo while members still have access to travel privileges that look detached from real-world consequences.

Politically, the episode risks widening existing divides inside the right, where many voters want secure borders and functional homeland security while also demanding an end to the culture of perks and excuses. The coverage does not establish illegality, and it does not prove the trip was purely leisure. It does show how fast “official business” can look like indulgence when paychecks are delayed and agencies are stuck operating under uncertainty. For lawmakers, the fix is simple: publish costs, justify outcomes, and stop normalizing shutdown-era optics disasters.