On March 26, President Trump announced that he would sign an executive order directing the newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately issue paychecks to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees. Trump took to Truth Social to express his decision, stating, “I will sign an order directing Secretary Mullin of the Department of Homeland Security to pay our TSA personnel immediately to address this emergency situation and swiftly stop the chaos caused by the Democrats at the airports.”
“This is not an easy task, but I will do it!” Trump added. “I want to thank our hardworking TSA personnel and also thank the assistance provided by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the airports.”
Due to the ongoing Congressional budget impasse, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been partially shut down since mid-February, leaving over 50,000 TSA employees without pay for weeks.
TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill warned Congress on Wednesday that if the shutdown is not resolved quickly, some airports in the United States may face closures.
McNeill stated that the continued lack of pay has forced some TSA employees to rely on donations from charitable organizations for food or even sleep in their cars because they cannot afford the gasoline to get to work.
The interruption in TSA funding has led to a significant increase in employees taking sick leave, resulting in long lines at airport security checkpoints with passengers often having to queue for hours.
McNeill pointed out that nearly 500 TSA employees have resigned, and the frequency of attacks on airport security personnel has risen by 500%. She said, “At this point, we have to consider all options on the table.”
The funding deadlock for the Department of Homeland Security remains unresolved in Congress. The core controversy lies in the Democratic Party’s demand for reforms in immigration enforcement, including requiring federal law enforcement officers such as ICE to wear identification badges, remove face masks, prohibit enforcement in sensitive locations like schools or churches, and mandate officers to obtain a judicial warrant before searching residential or private spaces.
The Republicans had rejected the Democratic proposal of “direct funding for TSA,” and on Thursday, the Senate conducted a procedural vote to test if the Republican proposal could garner enough Democratic support to advance the bill. However, after more than six hours of voting, the proposal failed with 53 votes against 47, falling short of the required 60-vote threshold for passage.
The Department of Homeland Security informed the English Epoch Times that over 3,120 TSA employees across the United States had collectively called in sick on Wednesday due to weeks of unpaid wages.
The absentee rates at some airports were extremely high, with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) at 40.6%, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (IAH) at 39.2%, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) at 36.1%, and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston (HOU) at 32.7%.
To alleviate the pressure on security screenings, authorities dispatched ICE agents to 14 airports on March 23 to assist in verifying passengers’ identities. The White House had considered various options, including declaring a national emergency to reallocate funds, or reassigning funds from existing budgets.
Just before the announcement of the voting results on Thursday evening, Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso told reporters, “We have given the Democrats the opportunity to come to the table for negotiations. They haven’t taken it. Now, the time has come.”
However, the Democrats insist that negotiations are still ongoing.
Democratic Senator Brian Schatz told reporters, “Our legislative director is, in fact, in a meeting right now, going back and forth with documents. To say we are not negotiating is just not true. Maybe one person or another is losing patience, and you know, that would be a shame, but we are still negotiating.”
The specific legal basis and implementation details of Trump’s executive order are not yet clear, but this move has become a crucial attempt to alleviate the current air travel chaos.