Members of Congress are sounding the alarm about the Biden administration's passport processing backlog.
Citing delays and frequent complaints from constituents, at least three senators and four representatives sent letters to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking for answers.
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"Current wait times for processing passports are unacceptable and untenable,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) wrote in a letter to Blinken. “I understand that current wait times are up thirteen weeks for routine service and nine weeks for expedited service. Waiting over two months for an expedited application is, frankly, not expedited.”
Applications are now taking up to three months for routine processing, and the State Department said the situation could get even worse over the summer. Schmitt said nearly half of his staff's casework requests are from constituents seeking help with passports, and several have had to cancel flights due to delays.
The White House referred questions from the Washington Examiner to the State Department.
"The Department of State is committed to providing the best possible service for our passport customers," said a department spokesperson. "We encourage all Americans to check their passports and renew now if they are planning international travel this year."
Part of the problem is due to demand, with the State Department processing 22 million passports last year. Even though that pace set a record, the numbers are up an additional 40% this year as travelers reengage after the pandemic.
Blinken testified before Congress in March, saying passport demand was "unprecedented" and that the high season, which had typically been summer, is "full time now." The department has hired staff to boost processing capacity and authorized thousands of hours of overtime pay, but delays continue piling up.
“Let me remind you — we work for the taxpayers, and the taxpayers expect and deserve a timely and professional process," Schmitt said in his letter, adding that passport processing is important even if it "may not make a panel at Davos."
Schmitt had several questions for Blinken about how he would clear up backlogs and prevent future ones and asked how many employees were still working remotely. The department spokesperson said all passport adjudicators have been back in the office since August 2021.
Citing its constituent complaints, the entire Utah congressional delegation sent a letter to Blinken as well, calling the delays "unacceptable."
“The six Utah congressional offices are struggling to handle all incoming emergency requests due to the sheer volume of requests being received — a direct result of passport processing grinding to a near halt," the delegation wrote.
The all-Republican delegation, consisting of Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, plus Reps. Chris Stewart, John Curtis, Burgess Owens, and Blake Moore, also asked the State Department to open a passport processing facility in Salt Lake City.
“These disruptions to our passport system are no longer special occurrences or tied to unique or emergency situations," they wrote. "The passport system is currently failing to keep up with normal demand for spring and summer travel plans.”
The problem comes amid a series of foreign policy crises for the Biden administration, including a classified documents leak, French President Emmanuel Macron making friendly overtures toward China, and a journalist recently detained in Russia. Blinken will have to attend to all of those even as he fields complaints about passports.
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Travel experts have warned that the only way to get around the processing delays is to apply for or renew passports well in advance.
“Even if you don’t have a trip on the books yet, but your passport is going to expire sometime in the first half of 2024, I’d absolutely just renew it now,” Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet, told CNBC.