Trump orders DHS Secretary Mullin to pay TSA agents amid shutdown

President Trump on Thursday directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration officers, a move that promised to end the long lines at security checkpoints that have caused chaos at airports.

Mr. Trump said on Truth Social that he did it “to address this Emergency Situation and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the airports. It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!”

“I want our hardworking TSA Agents and also ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our country hostage any longer,” he said.

TSA workers going without pay, and increasingly not showing up for work, is the biggest headache caused by Senate Democrats’ filibustering a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security to protest the administration’s mass deportations.

The alternative funding for TSA took away Democrats’ biggest piece of leverage. Still, late Thursday, Senate Democrats were refusing a deal to fund DHS without restrictions on federal immigration agents.

Senate Republicans gave their “last and final” offer on a compromise to end the shutdown on Thursday, but a test vote showed Democrats were not ready to accept the deal.

Senators were eager to cut a deal so they could pass a measure and leave Washington for a scheduled two-week congressional recess for the Easter and Passover holidays.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said the Senate will stay in Washington if lawmakers don’t pass the bill.

Airport security lines have had record wait times during the shutdown, which hit the 40-day mark on Thursday. More than 480 TSA agents have quit, and many others have called out of work.

On Saturday, more than 3,250 TSA employees called out amid missed paychecks. More than 500 officers have left the agency since the partial shutdown began in February, according to DHS.

It is unclear how long the alternative funding for TSA officers would last, and whether Mr. Trump will successfully secure the necessary money. He may also tap funding approved for DHS last year as part of his massive tax and spending bill.

Democrats in Congress have held up DHS funding while demanding changes to immigration enforcement after the deaths of two U.S. citizens who were protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

Republicans offered a handful of concessions but have also rejected Democrats’ overtures to fund TSA separately while still negotiating ICE reforms.

Friday was expected to be the third pay period during which TSA workers were scheduled to miss their paychecks.

Earlier this week, Mr. Trump dispatched ICE to 14 U.S. airports across the country to help alleviate long security lines.