TSA Officers Receive First Paychecks Under Trump EO as DHS Shutdown Enters Day 45

TSA agents received their first paychecks on March 30, 2026 under President Trump's executive order directing DHS to compensate transportation security officers who had worked without pay since mid-February's DHS funding lapse. The paychecks provided short-term relief to the roughly 48,000-person TSA workforce, but the structural DHS funding impasse remained unresolved as Congress entered a two-week recess with no deal in sight. The House-passed 60-day continuing resolution — which fully funds ICE and Border Patrol — remained dead on arrival in the Senate, and the bipartisan Senate bill that excluded immigration enforcement agencies was blocked in the House. The DHS partial shutdown entered its 45th day, becoming the longest partial government shutdown in US history. Security lines at major airports continued to be severely disrupted: some facilities reported 40%+ workforce callout rates and passenger wait times exceeding four hours. The 480+ officer resignations that occurred during the pay gap created long-term staffing damage that the restored paychecks alone could not immediately repair.