US Senate Approves DHS Employee 'Paycheck' Bill After Airport Lines Reach 4 Hours

The US Senate in Washington. (Unsplash-Harold Mendoza)

WASHINGTON - The US Senate has approved a budget to pay all the arrears of salaries of employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including its subordinate agency, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The budget is included in the Homeland Security funding bill that will fund all DHS affected by the partial shutdown of the US Government.

This funding transfer is excluded from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and a portion of Customs and Border Protection.

NBC News reported that senators approved the budget package at 02.20 am on Friday 27 local time after passing an oral vote after a marathon session.

The senate's decision came hours after President Donald Trump announced that he would sign an order to pay all the back pay of thousands of TSA employees affected by the partial government shutdown.

The shutdown since February 2026 has caused TSA employees to be late in full pay not to work both offline and online.

Thousands of TSA employees check the security of passengers at US airports every day. Thus, the 'absent' action has caused security inspection queues at US airports to flow, with inspection times reaching more than four hours for one person.

The US Senate deal follows a difficult bipartisan negotiation that has been taking place gradually over the past six weeks, and is expected to have Trump's support.

Separately, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) blamed Democrats for the slow passage of the Homeland Security funding bill.

"President Trump should not have to step in to save TSA workers and U.S. air travel. We are here because, thanks to the Democrats' steadfast refusal to reach an agreement, there will be no Homeland Security funding bill this year," he said.