Category: Kansas | Congress
Trump to Sign Emergency Order to Pay TSA Agents With No Deal in Congress on Shutdown
President Trump announced an executive order to compensate airport security workers after weeks without full pay, bypassing a stalled congressional deal as Kansas travelers and airports nationwide face growing uncertainty.
Why It Matters
The ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown has left thousands of Transportation Security Administration agents working without full paychecks since mid-February, raising concerns about airport security staffing and traveler safety across the country, including at Kansas airports such as Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Kansas City International.
With Congress unable to reach a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS, President Trump’s emergency order offers a stopgap measure to keep TSA workers financially afloat — but it leaves broader questions about federal agency funding unresolved heading into a congressional recess.
What Happened
President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he will sign an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration workers who have gone without a full paycheck since the government shutdown began in mid-February.
Trump made the announcement via social media, stating he would “not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer” and thanking TSA agents for their continued service. The order is limited in scope, covering TSA personnel but not other DHS employees such as those at the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Secret Service.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have remained largely shielded from the funding lapse. Those two agencies received tens of billions of dollars in additional funding under legislation Republicans passed last year, commonly referred to as the “big, beautiful” law.
The announcement came Thursday evening, March 26, 2026, as both the House and Senate were preparing to depart Washington for a two-week spring recess with no finalized deal on the DHS appropriations bill.
By the Numbers
- 6+ weeks: The length of time TSA agents and other DHS workers have gone without a full paycheck, with the shutdown beginning in mid-February 2026.
- Tens of billions of dollars: The additional funding Republicans approved for ICE and CBP under last year’s reconciliation legislation, insulating those agencies from the DHS shutdown.
- 2 weeks: The duration of the upcoming congressional spring recess, during which no legislative action on the DHS funding bill is expected.
- 2 U.S. citizens: The number of Americans killed in Minnesota in January by federal immigration officers — a catalyst for Senate Democrats demanding new constraints on immigration enforcement before agreeing to fund DHS.
- 1 agency funded: Trump’s emergency order covers TSA workers only, leaving other DHS sub-agencies, including FEMA and the Secret Service, still without appropriated funding.
Zoom Out
The TSA payment order reflects a broader pattern of the executive branch deploying unilateral tools to manage the consequences of congressional funding failures. Federal shutdowns affecting individual departments have become increasingly common flashpoints between the two parties, with essential workers often caught in the middle of legislative standoffs.
Senate Democrats, led in this fight by Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Chris Murphy of Connecticut, have insisted on attaching new accountability measures for federal immigration enforcement to any DHS funding agreement. Their demands intensified after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by immigration officers in Minnesota in January, an incident that drew significant national attention and congressional scrutiny.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota acknowledged after Trump’s announcement that the executive order “takes the immediate pressure off” lawmakers, calling it a “short-term solution.” His remarks signaled that while the order may defer the immediate political crisis, the underlying funding dispute remains unresolved.
Kansas, like other states with major airports and federal installations, has direct exposure to DHS staffing disruptions. Prolonged funding gaps can affect TSA checkpoint operations, wait times, and workforce morale — consequences that reach travelers throughout the state.
What’s Next
Congress will leave Washington for its two-week spring recess without a completed DHS funding agreement. Senate Majority Leader Thune indicated that negotiations may continue but provided no firm timeline or framework for a deal.
Senator Murphy said as of Thursday evening that active bipartisan negotiations were still ongoing, cautioning that Republicans should not “unilaterally decide to walk away.” The fate of those talks remained unclear as of late Thursday night.
Trump is expected to formally sign the emergency pay order in the coming days. It remains uncertain how long the executive action can legally sustain TSA compensation without a congressional appropriation, and whether the order could face legal challenges related to the Antideficiency Act, which generally prohibits federal spending without congressional authorization.