Trump Orders DHS to Pay All Back Pay to TSA Employees Affected by Shutdown

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has instructed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pay all the salaries of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agency employees who were affected by the partial shutdown of the US Government.

Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday that he would sign an order asking the newly appointed DHS Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, to "immediately pay our TSA employees to address this 'Emergency.'"

NBC News, which asked for confirmation of Trump's claim on Thursday night, March 26 local time, has not received a response from the White House.

The White House has also not responded to questions about where the budget to fund the DHS paying TSA employees came from.

Thousands of TSA employees who check the security of passengers at US airports every day have experienced full salary delays due to the US Government shutdown since mid-March 2026.

Since then, many TSA employees have not come to work, both offline and online. The TSA officer absenteeism rate has exceeded 11 percent nationally, with rates at some airports exceeding 40 percent.

The 'skipping' action has caused security check queues at US airports to pile up, with inspection times reaching more than four hours for one person.

Trump responded by sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports to assist the TSA earlier this week.

Unlike TSA officers, ICE, which is also headed by DHS, continues to receive pay during government shutdowns, as a result of funding from the so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill' bill that Trump signed into law last year.

The partial shutdown of the US Government, alias shutdown, began in February 2026, as a result of the Senate repeatedly failing to reach an agreement to fund the US Department of Homeland Security, alias DHS.