Trump orders DHS to pay TSA workers as partial government shutdown sets new record

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, March 26, 2026, that he intends to sign an executive order directing newly sworn-in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, as a partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security passed its fortieth day with no congressional resolution in sight. The announcement marked a significant escalation in the administration’s response to what has become one of the most disruptive federal funding standoffs in recent United States history.

Trump made the announcement through a post on Truth Social, framing the situation as a national emergency and invoking what he described as his authorities under the law. Trump wrote that he was directing Secretary Mullin to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents in order to address the emergency situation, and to stop what he called the chaos at the nation’s airports. Trump acknowledged the legal complexity of the maneuver, noting it was not an easy action to take, while blaming Senate Democrats for what he called a recklessly created national crisis.

Trump did not specify what legal authority he intends to use to restart pay for Transportation Security Administration officers. Officers have gone without pay because appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed in February, and it remained unclear at the time of the announcement whether the president holds the legal ability to pay staff through some other means. The move represented an extraordinary unilateral exercise of executive branch authority to address a funding impasse that is constitutionally the prerogative of Congress.

Why has the Department of Homeland Security been without funding since February 2026, and what triggered the congressional deadlock?

The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security originated in a congressional standoff directly linked to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in the United States. The shutdown came as Democrats in Congress demanded changes to how federal immigration enforcement operates, in exchange for releasing Department of Homeland Security funding, following the deaths of two United States citizens shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis. The two individuals killed were identified as Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who died after being shot by federal agents in Minneapolis in January during protests linked to immigration enforcement activity.

Democrats in the Senate and the House insisted that any Department of Homeland Security funding agreement must include statutory guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and related agencies engaged in the administration’s mass deportation operations. Those demands included requirements that federal immigration agents obtain judicial warrants before entering private property, wear visible identification while on duty, refrain from covering their faces with masks, and avoid conducting enforcement operations in proximity to schools, churches, and other sensitive locations.

Democrats repeatedly forced Senate floor votes to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security except Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an approach Republicans opposed on the grounds that it did not provide a comprehensive solution to restoring the agency’s full operations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Democrats had extended that offer on the floor every day, and that the path to restarting Transportation Security Administration pay was to send their paychecks while the dispute over Immigration and Customs Enforcement was separately resolved.

What proposals have Senate Republicans and Democrats exchanged to end the Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown?

Senate Republicans presented a compromise proposal following a meeting with President Trump at the White House that would fund 94 percent of the Department of Homeland Security, excluding specifically the enforcement and removal arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats dismissed the proposal because it did not contain the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operational changes they had sought.

Republicans subsequently offered a revised proposal that would fund Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, and other Department of Homeland Security agencies while withholding funds specifically for Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcement and removal operations. Democrats said the revised offer remained insufficient because it still permitted immigration enforcement through other agency channels within the Department of Homeland Security.

Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, expressed frustration at the progression of negotiations, saying the Republican side had offered what Democrats asked for days earlier only to be met with new conditions. Senator Angus King, Independent of Maine, who had previously voted with Republicans on government funding measures, said the Republican proposal was inadequate because it continued to fund the Homeland Security Investigations division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which King characterized as involved in enforcement and removal activity.

Schumer said Democrats sent a counterproposal to Republicans that would fund the Department of Homeland Security while simultaneously introducing guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He described the offer as a reasonable, good-faith proposal reflecting demands Democrats had raised consistently throughout the months-long negotiation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, said a Transportation Security Administration-only approach to funding would not solve the larger problem, pointing to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, and other critical agencies that also remained unfunded and fell outside the scope of any narrow standalone fix.

How severe has the Transportation Security Administration staffing crisis become at airports across the United States?

Acting Transportation Security Administration Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that multiple airports were experiencing callout rates greater than 40 percent, and that more than 480 transportation security officers had quit during the shutdown. At some airports, between 40 and 50 percent of the workforce was calling out on certain days. McNeill told the committee this had led to the highest wait times in Transportation Security Administration history, with some wait times exceeding four and a half hours.

Nationwide on a single reported day, more than 11 percent of Transportation Security Administration employees on the schedule missed work, amounting to more than 3,120 callouts in a single day. McNeill warned Congress that the agency could be forced to close smaller airports if officer numbers continued to fall, describing the situation as requiring very difficult choices.

McNeill described the personal toll on the Transportation Security Administration workforce in congressional testimony, noting that officers were sleeping in their cars, selling blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet, while still being required to perform at the highest level while in uniform. She also told lawmakers that assaults on Transportation Security Administration officers had increased by more than 500 percent since the shutdown began.

The staffing crisis intensified as the spring break travel season began, adding passenger volume to airports already operating with severely reduced security personnel. Members of the travel industry, including airline executives, publicly criticized lawmakers for failing to pay essential government workers during repeated shutdowns that have snarled travel. Federal government shutdowns in early 2019 and in late 2025 ended shortly after travel disruptions escalated following higher-than-typical absences of air traffic controllers.

What legal authority is President Trump using to pay Transportation Security Administration officers without a congressional appropriation?

The legal basis for Trump’s planned executive order remained unclear at the time of the announcement on Truth Social. It is not clear how Trump will pay Transportation Security Administration officers unilaterally, but it is not the first time the administration has sought to navigate the impacts of government shutdowns by moving money around. Active-duty Coast Guard personnel are currently being paid using discretionary funding despite the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said there was funding that could be used legally to pay Transportation Security Administration officers and the remainder of the Coast Guard, though she declined to detail the precise mechanism or funding source. Some Senate Republicans had been pushing Trump to formally declare a national emergency as a legal basis for freeing funds, and Collins, when asked whether the president could declare such an emergency, said Trump had the authority and that Congress would see what happens.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement continued to receive funding separately, insulated from the shutdown because Congress allocated tens of billions of dollars into Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law last summer. That legislation provided $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations over five years, ensuring that immigration enforcement continued uninterrupted while other Department of Homeland Security functions were left without appropriated funds.

The Trump administration had also considered an offer from Elon Musk to pay Transportation Security Administration workers directly, but rejected the proposal due to legal concerns related to Musk’s multiple government contracts.

What are the broader congressional and political dynamics surrounding the Department of Homeland Security funding impasse?

Trump had largely left the matter to Congress to resolve but warned at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday morning that he was prepared to take very drastic measures if senators could not reach a deal to end the shutdown. Senators signaled they would continue negotiations despite Trump’s announcement on Truth Social later that afternoon.

Senators were under additional pressure because Congress was scheduled to leave Washington for a two-week spring recess. Senate Majority Leader Thune suggested the recess could be canceled if the standoff was not resolved before the end of the week.

The Department of Homeland Security’s acting Transportation Security Administration administrator had placed the situation squarely before Congress, warning of potential airport closures and systemic security risks if the impasse continued. Trump this week deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to a number of United States airports to assist with security operations and traveler identification checks, a development that drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers and civil liberties advocates who questioned the legality and appropriateness of using immigration enforcement officers in an airport security role.

Trump’s decision to divert money to the Transportation Security Administration through executive order likely means the partial shutdown will break the 43-day record for Department of Homeland Security funding lapses set in 2025. Negotiations in the United States Senate were continuing as of Thursday evening, with both parties exchanging proposals but no final agreement reached. The executive action, if signed, would provide immediate relief to Transportation Security Administration officers but would leave the broader Department of Homeland Security funding dispute unresolved.

Key takeaways on what Trump’s executive order to pay TSA workers means for the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and United States airport security

• President Trump announced he will sign an executive order directing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration officers, with workers set to miss another paycheck on Friday and callout rates at some airports exceeding 40 percent nationwide.
• The legal mechanism for the executive payment order remained unspecified at the time of announcement, and it is not clear whether the president holds the legal authority to pay Transportation Security Administration staff outside of a congressional appropriation.
• The Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown originated in February 2026 following the fatal shootings of United States citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, which prompted Senate Democrats to withhold funding for immigration enforcement unless statutory reforms were implemented.
• Acting Transportation Security Administration Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified before Congress that more than 480 officers had quit since the shutdown began, that multiple airports were experiencing callout rates exceeding 40 percent, and that the agency may be forced to close smaller airports if staffing continued to deteriorate.
• Trump’s unilateral move to fund the Transportation Security Administration administratively means the partial shutdown is expected to break the 43-day record for Department of Homeland Security funding lapses set in 2025, with Senate negotiations continuing but no resolution reached as of the announcement.