President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers who have gone without paychecks during the funding lapse at Department of Homeland Security.
Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would instruct newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation.”
TSA officers missed their first full paycheck in mid-March, leading to many calling out of work. Call-out rates for TSA officers have exceeded 11% nationally, with some airports passing 40%.
Trump’s announcement comes as the Senate has repeatedly failed to advance a House-passed bill that would fund DHS for a full year. Democrats have opposed the bill as they demand changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the immigration officer surge in Minneapolis and the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal officers there earlier this year.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement earlier Thursday that the Trump administration was having discussions “about a number of ideas” to improve conditions in airports, as TSA says it is facing the longest security wait times in history.
“It is true that the White House is having discussions about a number of ideas to blunt the impact of the Democrat shutdown crisis, but no preparations or plans are currently underway. The best and easiest way to pay TSA Agents is to fund DHS,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt’s statement seemed to stave off a potential unanimous consent push from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who had said Thursday morning he was considering bringing up a bill to solely fund TSA — an idea Democrats were quick to support.
The possibility of the executive branch funding TSA through administrative means came up in discussions between Senate Republicans on Thursday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said: “Well, the president has the authority, so we’ll see what happens,” when asked whether Trump could declare a national emergency to pay TSA officers.
While senators had already cast votes on advancing the bill, the Senate vote remained open to allow for negotiations Thursday when Trump made his announcement on Truth Social. A GOP leadership aide had told reporters earlier that once the vote closes, it would be up to the White House to decide what the options are for paying TSA.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., shook his head and said “no” when asked by reporters Thursday after leaving Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office if senators were making progress on a deal.
The Senate is set to depart Friday for a two-week recess. Thune has said it remains an open question whether he will keep lawmakers in town if they don’t reach a deal on DHS funding.
