President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will sign an order instructing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pay Transportation Security Administration agents immediately. The order directs DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to address what Trump called an "emergency situation" caused by the ongoing funding standoff.
TSA agents have been working without pay for over a month due to the partial shutdown of the DHS. This has led to nationwide staffing shortages and long queues at airports, with passengers reporting hours-long waits and missed flights. The acting TSA head described the delays as the "highest wait times in TSA history." Almost 500 TSA officers have resigned since Congress failed to pass a funding bill for the DHS last month.
The White House has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to airports to assist. However, Democrats have demanded reforms to ICE, citing incidents of violence during operations, including the killings of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. They refuse to fund the DHS without these changes.
Acting TSA head Ha Nguyen McNeill told Congress this week that employees are expected to have missed $1bn in paychecks by Friday. She described staff facing eviction, car repossession, and utility shut-offs, with some selling blood plasma to make ends meet.
Trump has indicated he will not sign any legislation unless it includes the Save America Act, which would introduce stricter voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. Critics say the bill would make voting harder. The Senate failed to pass a funding bill for the seventh time on Thursday evening. Senate majority leader John Thune called Trump's order "a short-term solution," while Republicans like John Barrasso and Lindsey Graham praised the move.
