Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday instructing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents as the partial shutdown drags on.
Negotiations on Capitol Hill remain stalled after House Republicans rejected a Senate‑passed deal to fund key DHS subagencies, including the TSA. After first announcing on Truth Social that he would pay more than 60,000 airport security workers – without explaining where the money would come from – the president issued the order.
“This is an unprecedented emergency situation,” Trump said in a memorandum to Markwayne Mullin, the DHS secretary, and Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director. He again blamed Democrats’ “reckless decision to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over American citizens” for the 42‑day shutdown.
“If Democrats in the Congress will not act to honor the service of our TSA officers … then my administration will take action,” the president added.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that the TSA has “immediately begun the process of paying its workforce”, and said officers could see paychecks as early as 30 March. The department did not respond to questions about what funds are being used.
TSA agents have gone without pay for more than a month, leading to nationwide staffing shortages and hours‑long airport lines. The acting TSA chief has described the situation as producing the “highest wait times in TSA history”, and the administration this week deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports, in what Trump said was an effort to assist.
Almost 500 TSA officers have quit since last month, and the six‑week impasse has had a devastating impact on those who remain. By Friday, employees were expected to have missed $1bn in paychecks, acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told Congress, adding: “Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their childcare, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line, and drained their retirement savings.”
