Following weeks of disruption at airports nationwide, Transportation Security Administration officials announced that federal workers are receiving their first paychecks in weeks, with payments beginning as early as Monday.
Several major airport security checkpoints, including facilities in Atlanta and Houston, showed notable improvements in processing times during Monday morning operations.
However, uncertainty remains about when security screening delays will consistently return to standard levels, and questions persist about the duration of federal immigration personnel assignments at airports during the ongoing spring break travel period.
The Department of Homeland Security funding lapse has created widespread travel disruptions and raised concerns about potential airport shutdowns as unpaid TSA personnel began calling out from work. These employees were still recovering from financial hardships following an extended federal government closure last fall.
Screening delays continued exceeding two hours at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Monday morning. Baltimore-Washington International Airport maintained its recommendation for passengers to arrive three hours ahead of scheduled flights, cautioning that extended wait periods may persist.
Following bipartisan congressional pressure, President Donald Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to immediately compensate TSA officers to address the extensive delays affecting air travel. This decision followed Trump’s rejection of bipartisan legislative proposals to fund TSA operations while ongoing negotiations continue with Democrats, who have demanded restrictions on Trump’s immigration enforcement and deportation initiatives before approving additional funding.
Transportation security personnel have worked without compensation since DHS appropriations expired in February. The department’s closure reached 44 days on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 43 days set during last fall’s comprehensive federal government shutdown.
The funding gap has generated not only passenger delays but also threats of facility closures as financially strained TSA employees stopped reporting for duty. These same workers had previously endured the nation’s most prolonged government shutdown during the fall. Several airports recorded absence rates exceeding 40%, while nearly 500 transportation security officers among the agency’s approximately 50,000-person workforce resigned during the closure.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel were deployed to select airports one week ago to assist with security operations as TSA employee absences increased across the country. The duration of their assignment, according to White House border czar Tom Homan, will depend on how rapidly TSA staff return to their positions. Agency officials stated that TSA “has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce,” with compensation arriving “as early as Monday.”
