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TSA agents to receive pay after Trump executive order amid travel delays
TSA employees will soon get paid following an executive order by President Donald Trump, easing airport wait times but leaving broader DHS funding issues unresolved.
NEW YORK CITY - Long security lines continued to snarl travel at LaGuardia Airport on Monday. It comes as TSA agents have gone a record 44 days without pay because Congress is at a stalemate over funding the Department of Homeland Security.
TSA wait times at NYC-area airports
White House border czar Tom Homan said he hopes TSA agents will get paychecks this week after President Trump signed an order to pay them amid a partial government shutdown.
The backstory:
It’s been a record 44 days since TSA agents have been paid, as Congress remains at a stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA.
Callouts from unpaid TSA agents have caused a major staffing crisis and hours-long security lines at airports across the country.
By the numbers:
A handful of airports have experienced daily TSA officer callout rates of 40%. Nationwide on Thursday, more than 11.8% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work. On Friday, more than 3,560 TSA officers, or 12.35% of workers nationwide, called out.
Nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 officers have quit since the shutdown started, according to DHS.
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 25: People wait in long security lines at LaGuardia Airport on March 25, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. Travel disruptions continue as hundreds of TSA agents have quit or are working without pay during a partial gov …
Democrats say they won’t vote to fund Homeland Security unless the Trump administration makes changes to its immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations after the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal officers during protests.
The Senate passed a measure Friday to fund TSA and other branches of DHS, excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the immigration operations at the heart of the budget impasse. But the House ultimately rejected the Senate’s version and passed their own bill that includes money for ICE and CBP.
What's next:
It’s unclear when Congress will vote again on funding DHS and immigration operations. Both chambers are on a two-week break.