WASHINGTON — Most Transportation Security Administration employees received back pay on Monday from the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, but it may be a while before airport security lines return to normal.
DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis confirmed Monday that TSA workers have received at least two missed paychecks as the shutdown hit a record-breaking 44th day.
“A small population might see a slight delay due to a variety of reasons, including financial institution processing times or issues with their direct deposit,” Bis added.
“We are working aggressively with USDA’s National Finance Center to complete processing for the half paycheck they are owed from pay period 3 as soon as possible.”
According to DHS, more than 500 TSA agents working without pay during the more than 40-day shutdown ended up quitting. Thousands more called out of work.
A local federal union rep told MS NOW that the pay “will significantly bring down the wait times” at US airports and bring “a majority” of the employees back to the job.
According to multiple TSA agents at LaGuardia Airport on Monday, the backpay has started to come in and more showed up this morning than last week — but numbers aren’t back to 100% yet.
“We’re being told regular paychecks starting next week. I hope so. I really need it to be over soon,” one male TSA agent told the Post.
Another female agent pointed out, though, that she had yet to see a paycheck. “I’m calling about that all day. I haven’t seen anything,” she said.
“It’s the news screwing everything up!” one TSA supervisor claimed. “We got enough people [transportation security officers] here now, but people are watching the news and they’re coming way too early.”
Camilo Arango, 38, told The Post after returning to the Big Apple from a vacation in Washington, DC, that “there was no line” at Reagan International Airport earlier Monday morning.
“I left out of this airport [LaGuardia] Wednesday and the TSA line was 2.5 hours long. I missed my flight and had to catch a later one,” noted Arango, an electrician. “The line last week was all the way to the end of this airport. This is much better. I hope the worst is over.”
Bronx resident Rachel Jackson, 32, was traveling back to New Orleans to the airport with her six-month-old daughter and added that she “expected it to be worse.”
“I’m happily surprised. But you know, be prepared!” the pharmacy tech worker said. “I tried to make sure I got here 4 hours early.”
The Post observed Immigration and Customs Enforcement still assisting with some security responsibilities on Monday at LaGuardia Airport after the Trump administration deputized agents nationwide to fill in for missing TSA workers.
President Trump had signed an executive order on Friday, “to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown, consistent with applicable law.”
Some House Democrats, like Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), claimed that “the president is illegally paying, apparently, TSA agents” — despite his party having voted seven times against a bill funding DHS this year.
“Nothing will truly be normal again until Democrats do the right thing to fund this agency fully,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Monday’s press briefing.
Earlier, Leavitt had said: “The president is also encouraging Congress to come back to Washington to permanently fix this problem.”
Congressional Democrats voted down DHS funding in protest of the fatal shootings by federal immigration officers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Early Friday, the Senate passed a bipartisan funding bill that excluded funding for agencies like ICE, but House Republicans rejected the measure.
House GOP leaders accused Democrats of including “radical” provisions that would halt border enforcement entirely.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and others hadn’t raised those objections, but emphasized that Democrats had failed to secure reforms they sought, such as forcing ICE agents to go maskless.
