President Trump said Thursday he will sign an executive order to restart pay for Transportation Security Administration officers, who have gone more than a month without a full paycheck — leading to thousands of absences and long lines at major U.S. airports.
Mr. Trump did not say what legal authority he intends to use. TSA officers have gone without pay because appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed in February, and it’s not clear if the president has the legal ability to pay staff through some other means.
“Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do,” he announced in a Truth Social post.
Mr. Trump wrote that his executive order will direct Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who was sworn in earlier this week, to restart officers’ pay “immediately.” He wrote: “It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!”
TSA officers were set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday, as lawmakers struggle to reach a deal to reopen DHS. Senate Democrats are pushing for additional reforms to the department’s immigration-focused agencies that Republicans have turned down so far. Senate Majority Leader John Thune conveyed the GOP’s “last and final” offer to Democrats earlier Thursday.
Facing a loss of pay, more than 10% of TSA officers who work at airport security checkpoints are calling out of work on a day-to-day basis, with callout rates at some airports exceeding 40%. Hundreds of TSA staff have also left the agency altogether. Wait times at some larger airports have stretched for hours, and TSA officials have warned that smaller airports might need to close at some point.
Mr. Trump dispatched Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to more than a dozen airports this week to help TSA officers manage long lines, and suggested he might send in National Guard forces if needed.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, the president and CEO of Airlines for America, a trade group that represents U.S. carriers, praised President Trump’s announcement to pay TSA workers.
“We are grateful to President Trump and Secretary Mullin for implementing a solution to pay tens of thousands of dedicated TSA officers for the important job they do, serving with professionalism on the frontlines of our nation’s aviation system, despite not receiving pay for more than 40 days,” Sununu said.
In an interview with CBS News earlier Thursday, Sununu said that “even if they cut a deal right now, the vote’s not going to happen until the weekend — you’re still going to see that backpay doesn’t come in maybe until late next week or early even the following week, because it just doesn’t happen that fast. But it’s very, very real for these families and these individuals.”
Trump administration officials also weighed an offer from billionaire Elon Musk to pay TSA workers, but rejected the proposal due to legal concerns stemming from Musk’s various government contracts, CBS News reported earlier this week.
It’s not clear how Mr. Trump will pay TSA officers unilaterally, but it’s not the first time that his administration has sought to navigate the impacts of government shutdowns by moving money around.
Active-duty Coast Guard personnel are currently being paid using discretionary funding despite the DHS shutdown. And impacts on ICE and Customs and Border Protection have been muted because Congress infused tens of billions of dollars into the two immigration agencies as part of last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
During last fall’s government shutdown, members of the military, FBI agents and DHS law enforcement personnel also continued to get paychecks.
