The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said most of its workers were paid Monday for at least two paychecks they missed due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, which was prompted by Congress’ failure to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“Most TSA employees received a retroactive paycheck today that included at least two full paychecks covering pay periods 4 and 5 today,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement obtained by Scripps News.
It comes after President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately pay TSA agents who have been working without pay since Feb. 14. The shutdown has also led many TSA employees to call off work, creating long lines at U.S. airports.
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“TSA officers are grateful to President Trump and Secretary Mullin for their leadership to put money back into the pockets of TSA employees who worked without pay during the ongoing Democrat DHS shutdown,” Bis stated. “Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out.”
She added that “a small population” of TSA workers may see a delay in receiving their paychecks “due to a variety of reasons, including financial institution processing times or issues with their direct deposit.”
While the paychecks will come as a relief to thousands of TSA workers, questions remain about when everyone will be made whole from the missed payments over the past month. And the promise of an impending paycheck did not appear to help much over the weekend as some airports still recommended travelers arrive hours earlier than normal to ensure they made it through security lines.
In Baltimore, lines improved but were still longer than normal. At LaGuardia Airport in New York, a website warning also stated TSA lines could be significantly longer than normal, noting the situation may change quickly.
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Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continued assisted screening operations at airports over the weekend and it is unclear how long they will remain. Border Czar Tom Homan has said they will be there as long as they are needed, with no clear deadline in place.
With the TSA losing hundreds of agents during the latest shutdown, the help might still be needed even if all active TSA agents begin returning to work.