JUST IN: Trump Orders Sweeping Action To Pay TSA Agents Amid Dem-Led Shutdown

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his plan to issue an executive order instructing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. The announcement comes as the Democrat-led partial shutdown extends through its sixth week.

“Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do! Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airport,” the president posted on Truth Social.

“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!”

The bold statement outlines Trump’s directive for DHS to issue pay to TSA personnel without awaiting congressional action on new appropriations. The order targets the roughly 50,000 TSA officers who have continued security operations at airports while unpaid due to the lapse.

In practice, Secretary Mullin could issue internal guidance to DHS’s financial management and payroll offices to process payments. Federal payroll systems, managed through the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, would disburse funds to employees’ direct deposit accounts or checks using standard biweekly cycles.

Because no new full-year or continuing resolution appropriations exist for the current fiscal period, the order relies on claimed executive authorities. These may include reprogramming unobligated balances from prior-year DHS accounts, invoking emergency provisions under statutes such as the National Emergencies Act, or prioritizing payments as essential to public safety and transportation infrastructure.

Once payments begin, TSA agents would receive current wages, though the mechanism does not create new budget authority. Congress retains ultimate control over long-term funding; any payments made under the order would likely be subject to later ratification or offset in a final appropriations bill.

Historical precedents for executive redirection of funds during lapses exist in areas such as disaster relief or border security, but application to routine payroll represents an extension of those practices.

🚨 IT'S OFFICIAL: "President Trump is ordering his new Homeland Security Secretary to PAY TSA WORKERS."

Fund TSA and REOPEN DHS!

Nuke the filibuster, Senate GOP, and it ALL goes away!pic.twitter.com/nvHwm7IOgh

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 26, 2026

TSA officials reported to Congress that more than 480 transportation security officers have resigned since the shutdown began on February 14.

Nationwide call-out rates rose from a pre-lapse average of about 4 percent to 11 percent, with some airports recording daily absences exceeding 40 to 50 percent. As a direct result, passenger security wait times reached the highest levels recorded in TSA history, surpassing four and a half hours at multiple major facilities.

RELATED: Delta Pulls VIP Travel Perks From Congress As DHS Shutdown Drags On