The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Friday that TSA employees will begin receiving pay as early as Monday, March 30, after weeks of unpaid work and long airport security lines.
“At the direction of President Trump and the Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, TSA has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce,” a DHS spokesperson stated. “TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30.”
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the White House will not wait for Congress to appropriate funds for the DHS and will take executive action to pay TSA workers instead.
Nearly 500 airport security workers have quit since the partial government shutdown began in mid-February. The TSA has grappled with multi-hour security lines at numerous airports across the country, seeing some of the worst in the agency’s 24-year history.
The partial government shutdown coincided with spring break travel, one of the busiest leisure travel periods of the year for the airline industry. Absence rates for airport security officers shot up at many airports in March.
Reports and social media posts show airport terminals across New York City, including LaGuardia Terminal B, JFK Terminals 4, 5, and 8 with snaking security lines stretching through buildings, with passengers citing hours of wait times.
Questions remain about a permanent funding solution for the TSA. Congressional lawmakers continue to negotiate over reforms to the function of U.S. Immigration agents, and it is unclear yet if the latest executive action will bring an end to the long security lines at airports
