by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:10 AM ET, Fri April 3, 2026
Update: April 3, 2026, at 8:10 a.m. ET
A new report suggests that even after United States
President Donald Trump ordered Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
officers to be paid during the partial government shutdown, many are still “in
the hole.”
According to ABCNews.com,
while many TSA agents received all their backpay, many reported missing
portions of their paychecks. Even those who were paid in full reported spending
it all right away on “late payment fees, creditors and missed bill payments”
caused by the shutdown.
Add in the fact that TSA officers are not permitted to
accept donations due to their federal employee status, and the two most recent
government shutdowns are negatively affecting their livelihoods.
Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis released a statement to
ABC News in response to the report about TSA paychecks:
“We are working aggressively with USDA's [United States
Department of Agriculture] National Finance Center to complete processing for
the half paycheck they are owed from pay period 3 as soon as possible.”
Update: April 2, 2026, at 1:20 p.m. ET
United States President Donald Trump announced on Thursday
that he will sign an order to pay all the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
employees that have been working through the partial government shutdown
without getting a paycheck.
President Trump wrote on social media that “Help is on the
way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work
hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country.”
Trump did not explain where the money would come from or
when the paychecks would be issued. Last week, the President signed a similar
order to issue checks to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees.
The news comes after the Senate passed a temporary funding
bill for the DHS that was sent back to the House on Thursday, possibly
indicating the end of the government shutdown.
Update: March 31, 2026, at 2:15 p.m. ET
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced
that absences dropped dramatically on Monday as employees began receiving
paychecks again following a 45-day partial government shutdown and President
Donald Trump's intervention.
According to Reuters.com,
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported a national average absence
rate of 8.6% on Monday. The average rose to 12.4% on Friday, with major travel
hubs like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport reporting absence
rates of up to 29%.
Despite ongoing disagreements in Congress over funding for
several major federal agencies, President Trump signed a memorandum last week
that secured funding for TSA agents nationwide.
Officials from the DHS said TSA employees impacted by the
government shutdown would begin receiving retroactive paychecks on Monday.
Additional payments for missed paychecks will be issued as soon as possible.
Original Text
Major airports across America are reporting shorter lines on Monday morning on March 30, just as some Transportation Security Administration officers are sharing that they’ve finally received a paycheck after 40-some days without following President Trump’s executive order demanding the DHS pay TSA workers.
The executive order was issued on Friday, March 27, after a Senate-approved funding bill that would have funded all DHS departments except ICE and CBP died in the House of Representatives. As Congress then went on a two-week break, there was little hope of any funding package for at least that long.
"America's air travel system has reached its breaking point," Trump said in the memo authorizing the payments, which will come from DHS's pocketbook. "I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation's security."
According to the latest news from Reuters, some of the hardest-hit airports in the country, including Houston, New York, New Orleans, Dallas and Baltimore, all reported shorter lines on Monday, with some TSA officers posting on social media that they’ve received their paychecks early Monday morning.
This latest partial government shutdown, which impacts only the Department of Homeland Security and has led to historically long TSA security checkpoint lines at airports around the nation, has become the longest shutdown in American history. It's been 45 days.
All of this uncertainty and long lines come at the worst time of year: spring break, when Airlines for America predicts American air carriers will fly approximately 2.8 million travelers every day from March through April. All of those travelers, of course, are required to go through TSA security screening.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a major union for federal government employees from all departments, issued this statement:
"For the past five weeks, AFGE members have been calling on Washington to pay the public servants at the Department of Homeland Security who are protecting this country while the parties work out their differences. Today, that call was answered," said American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley. "The 47,000 TSA officers represented by AFGE will finally be paid, and we are grateful that action was taken to make that happen.
"We don't yet know what this means for thousands of other DHS employees at FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, among others," Kelley continued. "These workers and their families cannot wait. All DHS workers must be paid immediately. Congress needs to continue working to pass a real, bipartisan appropriations deal that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running — even if that means canceling their upcoming vacation. And they must pass the Shutdown Fairness Act so that no politician, of either party, can ever hold a public servant's paycheck hostage again."
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