Travelers going wheels-up next week could see Transportation Security Administration lines much shorter than they’ve been in recent weeks.
President Donald Trump signed an emergency memorandum on Friday directing newly confirmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to shift funds toward TSA agents who have gone unpaid since February. The order also instructs agents to be paid wages for the weeks they’ve worked since the shutdown began.
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Hundreds of agents have quit since then, and thousands more have called out from work. The staffing shortage has backed up airport security lines, forcing travelers to either arrive hours before their flights or miss them.
The partial government shutdown centers around a partisan fight in Congress. Democrats have refused to fully fund DHS without new guardrails for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“If Democrats in the Congress will not act to honor the service of our TSA officers, who are now performing their critical public safety responsibilities without knowing whether they will be able to buy food for their families or pay their rent, then my Administration will take action,” Trump said in the memorandum.
The president first announced the measure Thursday evening, right before the Senate attempted to provide its own funding solution for TSA.
When do they get paid?
DHS said shortly after Trump signed the order that TSA agent salaries are expected to hit bank accounts as early as Monday.
“TSA officers are now losing their homes and cars, struggling to put food on the table, and are experiencing all-around financial catastrophe because of this extended shutdown, the 3rd they’ve experienced in just 6 months,” the department said in a post to X.
Friday marks a full month TSA workers have gone without pay.
Union response
The American Federation of Government Employees welcomed the news its TSA agent members would soon be paid, but urged Congress to fully fund DHS, saying other employees will still be working without pay.
“Congress needs to continue working to pass a real, bipartisan appropriations deal that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running — even if that means canceling their upcoming vacation,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
Congressional deadlock
Senate Republicans sent the House a bill late Thursday night that would have funded all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and part of Customs and Border Protection.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the bill “a joke” and instead moved to pass a 60-day stopgap measure to fund DHS and give lawmakers more time to negotiate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described that as “dead on arrival” once it found the Senate. Members of the upper chamber have left town for a two-week recess.
