TSA Agents Could Get Paid as Soon as Monday Following Trump Order, DHS Says. Will It End the Airport Crisis?

President Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to begin paying TSA agents who have worked without wages during the partial government shutdown, with paychecks expected as early as Monday, March 30. Trump issued a presidential memorandum determining the shutdown constitutes "an emergency situation compromising the Nation's security" and directed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and OMB Director Russell Vought to use available funds with a nexus to TSA operations to compensate employees. The shutdown, which began Feb. 14 over an immigration enforcement dispute, has forced essential TSA workers to work unpaid and take additional jobs, causing widespread call-outs and record-breaking security line delays at airports nationwide. The order comes as Congress negotiated a potential funding deal, though House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a Senate-passed bill on Friday that would have funded TSA and most of DHS while excluding ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection.