Markwayne Mullin, the man at the center of the DHS storm, confirmed on Monday that a #1.6 billion payroll default is coming on May 1st. The ‘State Concierge’—also known as the 240,000 workers of the TSA and FEMA—is about to go unpaid while the Senate plays budget games. According to the Secretary’s office, the default will hit just as the summer Mediterranean season begins, potentially turning airport security into a four-hour circle of hell.

In a move of pure ‘Imperial Triage,’ the Senate advanced a #140 billion package that funds border enforcement but leaves the people who check your bags at LAX to starve. If the TSA agents stage their expected sick-out, the frictionless travel our readers enjoy will vanish. The only thing worse than a long line at Heathrow is a closed terminal in Atlanta because the help wasn’t paid.

Wealthy travelers are already eyeing the private terminals as a way to bypass the bureaucratic collapse. When the public utility fails, the private exit is the only high-status move left. Expect the May 1st ‘TSA Mutiny’ to be the most expensive day in the history of private aviation. After all, time is the only thing money can’t buy back once a bureaucrat loses his paycheck.