Trump to Sign Emergency Order to Pay TSA Agents Amid Ongoing Government Shutdown
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an emergency executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration workers who have gone without full paychecks since the partial government shutdown began in mid-February. The move comes as Congress — controlled by Republicans in both chambers — heads into a two-week spring break without a bipartisan deal to fund the department, leaving thousands of federal workers in financial limbo and raising concerns about airport security staffing levels across the country, including at Boise Airport in Idaho.
Background: A Shutdown Stretching Into Weeks
The DHS funding lapse has been ongoing since mid-February, leaving a wide range of federal employees working without guaranteed pay. TSA agents stationed at airports nationwide, including those screening passengers at Boise Airport, have continued reporting to work despite the uncertainty over their paychecks.
The shutdown standoff has largely centered on a Senate impasse. Democrats have blocked the DHS funding bill in the Senate, demanding new constraints on federal immigration enforcement actions following an incident in January in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota. Republicans, meanwhile, have resisted those conditions and have struggled to find a path to the 60 votes needed to advance the bill past a Senate filibuster.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been largely shielded from the funding lapse because Republicans secured tens of billions in additional funding for those two agencies in last year’s reconciliation legislation, widely referred to as the “big, beautiful” law. That left other DHS components — including TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Secret Service — without guaranteed funding.
Key Details of Trump’s Emergency Order
Trump’s announcement, made on social media Thursday afternoon, confirmed he would use executive action to direct DHS to compensate TSA workers. The order does not appear to cover other DHS employees, including those at FEMA and the Secret Service, leaving those workers’ pay situations unresolved.
“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 wrote. “I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota acknowledged the move shortly after Trump’s announcement, saying the decision “takes the immediate pressure off” lawmakers to strike a deal before the spring recess. However, Thune cautioned that the executive order is a “short-term solution” and did not commit to continued negotiations during the break.
“We obviously are going to try and fund as much of the DHS budget as we possibly can,” Thune said, adding that he would have more to say about the path forward soon.
Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, indicated earlier in the evening that bipartisan talks remained ongoing, though no agreement had been reached as of late Thursday night.
Impact on Idaho Travelers and Federal Workers
For Idaho residents and Treasure Valley families who rely on air travel through Boise Airport, the TSA staffing situation has been a source of concern throughout the shutdown. Long lines were reported at major airports across the country on Wednesday, including at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, raising questions about whether staffing shortages were beginning to impact checkpoint operations.
TSA agents are among the federal workers classified as essential, meaning they are required to continue working even during a funding lapse — but they are not legally guaranteed timely pay until Congress acts or an executive remedy is put in place. Trump’s emergency order is intended to address that gap specifically for airport security personnel.
Idaho federal employees working for FEMA or the Secret Service, however, remain in the same uncertain position as before Thursday’s announcement.
What Comes Next
Congress is expected to depart for its two-week spring recess, meaning a full legislative resolution to the DHS shutdown is unlikely before mid-April at the earliest. Senate leaders have not provided a clear timeline for resuming negotiations on the DHS appropriations bill.
Idaho residents who travel frequently or have family members employed by federal agencies impacted by the shutdown can monitor updates through the Office of Personnel Management at opm.gov and through their congressional representatives. Idaho’s congressional delegation — including Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson — can be contacted through their official websites for information on how the shutdown is affecting Idaho federal workers and what legislative steps are being pursued.