JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 President Trump signed an executive order today directed at ending the financial strain on thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, a move intended to alleviate the growing travel delays that have paralyzed airports nationwide. <\/p>\n
The executive action comes as a direct response to a legislative stalemate in the House of Representatives. While the Senate passed a bipartisan bill in a rare overnight session to end the partial government shutdown and fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), House Republicans have refused to take up the measure. <\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n The funding gap, which has stretched beyond 40 days, has forced TSA agents to work without paychecks, leading to a surge in people calling out sick and resignations. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was wrapped around the whole building,\u201d said Manny Marchesani, a traveler from Baltimore who endured a four-hour wait at Baltimore\/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. \u201cHow long can they really go without getting paid?\u201d <\/p>\n The Senate\u2019s unanimous vote sought to provide a lifeline to agencies, including the TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) emphasized that the agreement was a targeted effort to fund essential services. <\/p>\n \u201cSenate Democrats were clear: no blank check for a lawless ICE and Border Patrol,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cThis long-overdue agreement funds TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, and CISA.\u201d <\/p>\n However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) signaled a continued standoff, indicating that House Republicans intend to push their own version of a DHS funding bill rather than adopting the Senate\u2019s proposal. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to risk not funding agencies that keep the American people safe,\u201d Speaker Johnson stated, setting the stage for a further clash between the two chambers. <\/p>\n At Jacksonville International Airport (JIA), the sentiment among travelers shifted from frustration over delays to sympathy for the federal workforce. Martha Allen, visiting from Indianapolis, called the situation \u201cabominable.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe should be paying our TSA workers because their job is to keep us safe,\u201d Allen said. \u201cFrankly, if Congress can\u2019t pass that legislation, they shouldn\u2019t be paid.\u201d <\/p>\n While the President\u2019s order instructs the DHS to immediately process payments for TSA agents, the administrative mechanism for doing so remains unclear. Because the executive order attempts to bypass the traditional \u201cpower of the purse\u201d held by Congress, legal experts suggest it may face immediate challenges. <\/p>\n For now, travelers are being advised to arrive at terminals several hours early and, where possible, avoid major hubs most impacted by the staffing shortages. <\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 President Trump signed an executive order today directed at ending the financial strain on thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[982,95666,95664,95668,37100,5142,48593,5173,13888,95669,1877,969,116,118,117,24683,6492,6489,634,95665,27608,4214,95667,7842,2684,3213],"class_list":["post-209071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action_news","tag-baltimore_international_airport","tag-ben_meck","tag-cisa","tag-coast_guard","tag-congress","tag-department_of_homeland_security","tag-dhs","tag-fema","tag-house_republicans","tag-ice","tag-jack","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonville_international_airport","tag-jessica","tag-jessica_salinas","tag-local","tag-monty_marcasani","tag-president_trump","tag-senate","tag-senate_democrats","tag-tanika_hughes","tag-trump","tag-tsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}