Trump to sign emergency order to 'immediately pay' TSA agents

Trump will sign order to quickly pay TSA agents

We are now learning that President Donald Trump will sign an emergency order advising Homeland Security to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. This comes as Congress continues to battle over a deal to end a budget impasse that has clogged airports and left employees working without pay. LiveNOW’s Andy Mac has the latest after Trump announced that it "is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!" 

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would sign an emergency order that would direct the Department of Homeland Security to "immediately pay" Transportation Security Administration agents.

In a post published on his Truth Social account, the president said that he wanted to quickly stop the "Chaos at the Airports."

FILE - A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent looks on passengers queue to go through security at New York's LaGuardia airport on March 22, 2026. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)

What they're saying:

"It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports," Trump’s post read in part. 

DHS funding deal stalls in Senate

The backstory:

The shutdown of funding for Department of Homeland Security, now in its 41st day, has resulted in travel disruptions, missed paychecks and even warnings of airport closures.

TSA workers are coming up on their second missed paycheck Friday, with thousands refusing to show up for work.

With pressure mounting, the White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay TSA workers while senators reviewed a "last and final" offer to end the funding impasse that has jammed airports and disrupted travel.

Democrats have been refusing to fund the DHS as they demand changes to rein in Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.

The Senate came to a standstill and senators, ready to leave town for their own spring break, prepared to stay all night to reach a deal.

DHS: TSA workers calling out, quitting amid shutdown

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed more than 3,200 TSA workers called out from their Monday shifts and more than 450 TSA officers have outright quit their jobs as lawmakers weigh new paths to end the partial government shutdown. John Pistole, a former TSA administrator joined LiveNOW's Josh Breslow to discuss the shutdown and the impacts on airports nationwide.

Security check points reach record wait times

Local perspective:

Record wait times at airport security checkpoints persisted Wednesday and were expected to continue Thursday. 

Lines that twist and turn across multiple floors at George Bush Intercontinental Airport have been the result of TSA only being able to staff one-third to one-half the usual number of checkpoint lines, Jim Szczesniak, aviation director for Houston’s airport system, told The Associated Press. 

Lines at Atlanta’s airport, meanwhile, have been described as "like a box of chocolates," a reference to the "Forrest Gump" line that ends with "you never know what you’re gonna get."