HOUSTON — Transportation Security Administration Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl said Tuesday that some U.S. airports may close if staffing shortages continue during the partial government shutdown. Stahl made the comments on Fox News' “FOX & Friends” as the shutdown entered its fifth week.

“There's not much else we can do,” Stahl said. “As the weeks continue, if this continues, it's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones,” he said.

“The National Deployment Office, which has sent relief staff to airports to help overwhelmed agents, is fully depleted,” Stahl said.

More than 50,000 agents who screen passengers and luggage at roughly 450 airports across the country have received only one partial payment since Department of Homeland Security funding lapsed on February 14. TSA agents are deemed essential employees and have worked without pay during the shutdown, and they received their first $0 paycheck over the weekend.

Roughly 21% of the security staff at Atlanta, New York-JFK, and Houston Hobby Airport have called out in recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security said. The average nationwide call-out rate before the shutdown was less than 2%, and the call-out rate has more than doubled since the shutdown began, DHS said.

Between the start of the shutdown and Monday, 366 transportation security officers left the TSA, DHS said. “These numbers illustrate the severe operational strain caused by the shutdown, underscoring the urgent need for resolution to restore stability, morale, and security at America's airports,” DHS said in a statement. “TSA funding must be restored immediately,” DHS said in a statement.

Checkpoint wait times have exceeded 3 hours at some airports, with lines snaking out the doors, into parking garages, and onto airport sidewalks. In a joint letter on Sunday, airline CEOs from carriers like Delta, Southwest, and FedEx urged Congress to pass legislation protecting TSA, customs, and air traffic control workers from being affected by government shutdowns.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated 171 million people will fly in the U.S. in March and April. Smaller airports typically handle fewer flights and have less connecting traffic than larger hubs, and even limited closures would ripple across the system, adding costs and time for both travelers and airlines.