President Trump acts to ensure TSA employee pay after Congress fails to agree on DHS funding, addressing urgent financial concerns.
Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees, after a deal that sought to do the same stalled in Congress.
“America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point,” Trump said in the memo authorizing the payments. He added, “I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security.” Trump said his administration would use “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations” for the payments. In a statement Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said TSA workers “should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday.” On Thursday night, as lawmakers grappled with the issue, a senior administration official said the money would come from the tax bill Trump signed last year. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly. They compared the move to actions Trump took during a past shutdown to pay troops.Trump’s action came after House Republicans rejected a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, a revolt that risks delaying a resolution to the funding impasse now in its 42nd day that has created long lines at many of the nation’s airports.Johnson said that instead House Republicans would seek to pass a bill that would fund the entire department at current levels until May 22. He also said he had spoken with Trump about the House Republican plan and the president “supports it.” House Republicans are angry that the bill passed early Friday by the Senate does not fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Democrats refused to fund those departments without changes to immigration enforcement practices. “We’re going to do something different,” Johnson said, challenging the Senate to take up the House’s continuing resolution on Monday, assuming it does pass the House, which is uncertain. Senators have already left town after acting in the early morning hours to end the partial shutdown, so it would take time for them to return if the House ends up passing a different measure. And Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a social media post that the 60-day stopgap measure being considered in the House would be “dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it.” With pressure mounting this week to resolve the stalemate, the endgame appeared to emerge just before TSA workers were set to miss another paycheck.said Thursday he would sign an order to immediately pay the TSA agents, saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.”“We can get at least a lot of the government opened up again, and then we’ll go from there,” saidSchumer of New York said the outcome could have been reached weeks ago, and he vowed that his party would continue fighting to ensure Trump’s “rogue” immigration operation “does not get more funding without serious reform.”Senators worked through the night on the deal that would fund much of the rest of the department, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and TSA. While Democrats were successful in blocking more funding for ICE and the Border Patrol, they did not get the new limits on immigration enforcement they were demanding.that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions of dollars in extra funds to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations. Conservative Republicans have panned their own party’s proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations. Many have vowed to ensure ICE has the resources it needs in the next budget package to carry out Trump’s agenda. “We will fully fund ICE. That is what this fight is about,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said. “The border is closing. The next task is deportation.”Earlier Thursday, Thune announced he had given a “last and final” offer to the Democrats. But as the day dragged on, action stalled out. Democrats argued the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and other federal agencies that are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Democrats have also pushed for an end of administrative warrants, insisting that judges sign off before agents search people’s homes or private spaces — something newTrump had largely left the issue to Congress but warned he was ready to take action, threatening to send the National Guard to airports in addition to his deployment of ICE agents, who are now checking travelers’ IDs. The White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay the TSA agents, a politically and legally fraught approach. Instead, Trump’s order would pay TSA agents using money from his 2025 tax bill, according to a senior administration official who wasn’t authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. If the Senate package is approved by the House and signed into law, the action Trump announced to pay TSA agents may be temporary or unneeded.as TSA workers missing paychecks stop going to work. Those workers had already endured the nation’s longest government shutdown last fall. Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers, and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts. Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union is grateful the TSA workers will be paid but added Congress must stay in session to pass a deal “that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running.”, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday.WIGGINS, Miss. — Five people were killed when a train and van collided in rural Mississippi, authorities said Friday. All five killed were in the van, Stone County Coroner Wayne Flurry said. The lone surviving van passenger, a 23-year-old woman, was flown to a hospital, Flurry said. No one aboard the train was reported DENVER — Five of the seven law enforcement officers in a rural Colorado county, including the sheriff, have been indicted in an investigation into allegations of misconduct, prosecutors said Friday. A grand jury indicted Costilla County Sheriff Danny Sanchez and former Deputy Keith Schultz on charges of allegedly mishandling human remains discovered in October NEW YORK — New York City has ended its legal fight with producer Jordan McGraw, the son of TV’s “Dr. Phil” McGraw, reaching a settlement Friday that clears the way for the release of a reality show he’s making about the New York Police Department. Under the agreement, the city will retain editorial control Minnesota public universities can continue to offer in-state tuition and scholarships to some immigrants in the country without legal status, a federal judge ruled on Friday, dismissing a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice last summer that attempted to halt the programs. The decision follows a series of clashes between the federal government and WASHINGTON — Airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore and some cities in Virginia briefly halted all flights Friday evening because of what federal authorities said was a strong chemical smell at the flight center that controls traffic into the airports. According to a spokesperson with the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily stopped HONOLULU — A 120-year-old Hawaii dam that reached worrisome levels during heavy rains and devastating flooding, prompting thousands of residents to evacuate for fear of life-threatening failure last week, will soon be taken over by the state. The state’s land board on Friday voted to acquire certain irrigation lands from Dole Food Co., clearing WSECU Community Champion: Chrystal Ortega’s mission to feed Spokane Chrystal Ortega's tireless dedication recently earned her the WSECU Community Champions Award and a $1,000 grant to further the mission.When Shawn Tibbitts opened Tibbitts FernHill, he was just trying to survive. The small Tacoma restaurant has since earned culinary awards and praise.Wilcox Family Farms is continuing its cherished holiday tradition of giving back by donating nearly one million eggs to food banks across the South Sound region this season.Matthew Ballantyne has transformed that early awareness into action, embodying the organization's mission:"No Kid Sleeps On The Floor In Our Town."
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Trump signs executive action to pay TSA workers after Congress fails to agree on DHS fundingPresident Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees.
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Trump signs executive action to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS fundingPresident Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees, after a deal that sought to do the same stalled in Congress.
Read more »
Trump signs executive order to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS fundingHouse Republicans rejected a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, a revolt that risks delaying a resolution to the funding impasse.
Read more »
Trump signs executive action to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS fundingPresident Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees, after a deal that sought to do the same stalled in Congress.
Read more »
Trump signs executive action to pay TSA workers after Congress fails to agree on DHS fundingPresident Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees.
Read more »
Trump signs executive action to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS fundingTrump signed the action with an eye toward easing long security lines at many of the nation's top airports.
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