Pain levels: Airports lead community efforts to help TSA workers going without pay during shutdown; Trump signs order to pay agents

Airports and air travelers have been feeling the pains of the federal shutdown impacting the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

But TSA workers — who make on average $35,000 annually with many working paycheck-to-paycheck — are at the top of the pain scale.

Airport checkpoint employees haven’t been paid since the shutdown started Feb. 14 and faced more days without pay with Congress unable to break its partisan gridlock.

That could be ending soon, even amid continued partisan fights in Congress.

On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump said he was taking action to pay TSA agents.

"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 Airports," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Trump signed an order on TSA pay Friday that includes backpay, according to the White House. Trump's memo said that the lack of pay, which is resulting in TSA agents quitting their jobs, constitutes "an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security."

Early Friday morning just after 2 a.m., the U.S. Senate approved a measure to fund TSA and other Department of Homeland Security agencies, with the exception of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). Democrats' shutdown stance centered on their opposition to Trump’s immigration crackdowns.

But House Republicans are opposing the Senate funding bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, called the Senate measure "a joke", questioning its funding for border security and immigration enforcement. Republicans hold slim operating majorities in both congressional chambers.

The GOP House will instead vote on a 60-day spending measure that differs from the Senate plan. That essentially puts the shutdown back to square one on Capitol Hill with Democrats in the Senate able to stop GOP measures and Republicans in the House adverse to compromises from the upper chamber.

In a number of communities, airports have been working to help TSA employees pinched by the federal shutdown of the “(TSA) officers are currently working without pay during the shutdown. While we cannot speculate on what lies ahead, we remain deeply grateful for their professionalism and dedication,” said Angi Daus, vice president for air service and corporate communications for the Asheville Regional Airport (AVL).

There are 96 TSA workers staffed at the western North Carolina airport.

Daus said the Asheville airport has launched a support drive to help TSA workers who are working without pay.

The Asheville airport is accepting gift cards so TSA agents can buy groceries, gasoline and other items.

But because of federal rules, the gift cards must be $20 or less, officials said.

Other airports have also started support drives with some setting up bins and tables for donation items.

“Our community has been very supportive of Boise’s TSA employees. We put out donation bins about two weeks ago. Donations of food, household goods, baby essentials, pet food, etc., are placed on tables for TSA employees to take what they need,” said Jennifer Kronberg, communications and marketing director at the Boise Airport (BOI) in Idaho.

”We have received hundreds of dollars in gift cards, and many people and local businesses have provided lunch to TSA workers,” she said.

The shutdown started on Valentine’s Day with Democrats and Republicans unable to reach a deal for weeks to fund DHS, including TSA.

Democrats want changes at ICE as they push against Trump’s immigration enforcement actions after the killings of two anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis in January.

Both parties rejected various funding bids before Trump’s pronouncement he would be paying TSA workers.

Both ICE and TSA are under DHS, leaving approximately 61,000 airport security workers without pay and checkpoint staffing stations at some airports understaffed. ICE has funding streams through Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress last year.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union estimates 90% of DHS’s 260,000 employees are currently working without pay.

The agency also includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), ICE, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Coast Guard.

The union said the shutdown has been especially hard on TSA workers, who on average make $35,000 a year.

“They don’t have money for day care, child care, gas, food and many other things as they’ve almost went a full month without a full paycheck, because the last paycheck they received was so small it was almost inconsequential,” said AFGE Council 100 Secretary-Treasurer Johnny Jones, which represents the airport workers.

Some TSA workers have quit, others are calling out of shifts. Promises of back day once the shutdown ends can’t help them pay their current bills. The White House memo on Trump's pay plan says more than 500 TSA agents have quit their jobs during the 40-plus day shutdown.

The union said airports in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cleveland, New York, Denver, Orlando, Portland and other cities have also launched support drives for TSA workers.

Some larger airports — including Houston, Atlanta, Chicago and New York — have seen very long lines with passengers waiting hours to get through checkpoints.

Airlines and airport managers are frustrated with the partisan gridlock.

Congress — whose members have been able to bypass long security lines — is slated for a two-week Easter break starting March 28.

“This is 100% political since the funding is there. Every time a passenger purchases a ticket, a part of that ticket includes a security fee. TSA is and continues to be fully funded,” said Brian Sprenger, president and CEO of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) in Montana.

“They are just not allowing access to the funds the traveling public has already paid and continues to pay each and every time a ticket is purchased. Between Congress and the administration, it is an abomination to hold hostage the traveling public,” Sprenger said.

He said the Montana airport is directing community help for TSA workers to the federal agency’s local managers.

Other airports are also directing community help and gift card donations to TSA managers.

In Florida, the Key West International Airport (EYW) said in an announcement, “only grocery, restaurant, and gas gift cards are accepted” in $10 or $20 denominations.

Key West airport officials said Visa and Mastercard gifts cannot be accepted by TSA officials.

"We appreciate the hard work of our TSA officers. They remain essential to ensuring safe and efficient travel at Key West International Airport," said Katie Atkins, communications and marketing manager for the Florida airport.

Smaller and mid-sized airports are mostly not seeing the type of nightmare delays and hours-long lines being experienced at some larger hubs.

In Montana, Sprenger said BZN has not seen significant TSA staffing issues or delays. But he is concerned what will happen if the shutdown continues.

“(I) expect the longer this drags out it will get worse,” he said.

Kronberg said the Boise Airport saw longer TSA lines during spring break for Idaho schools and universities last week, but had returned to normal this week.

In North Carolina, Daus said the Asheville airport has continued its guidance of advising passengers to show up two hours before flights.

Some larger airports have been advising passengers to show up three or four hours early to give enough time to snake their way through long security lines.

Both sides continue to blame. each other for the shutdown, lack of pay and long lines at airports.

On Thursday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said the GOP had given a “last and final offer” to Democrats to try to break the partisan logjam and end the partial shutdown impacting TSA and other DHS agencies.

But Johnson and House Republicans want funding for border security they say is lacking in the Senate bill.

Trump had already deployed ICE agents to some large U.S. airports to help at checkpoints. The president has pressed Senate Republicans to end filibuster rules requiring 60 votes to move measures forward and had also talked about National Guard deployments at airport checkpoints.