HOUSTON – President Donald Trump said he will sign an emergency order to pay TSA workers on Thursday.
The president made announcement in a post to his social media platform, Truth Social.
“I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation,” the president wrote in part.
Newly-appointed Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin is only on the second day on the job. Mullin replaced Kristi Noem on March 24.
“These hours long lines and thousands of Americans missing their flights,” Mullin said in a post on X while blaming the Democrats.
I want to thank @POTUS for his leadership in finding a way to pay our TSA officers to end this chaos at our airports. These hours long lines and thousands of Americans missing their flights was caused solely by the Democrats reckless @DHSgov shutdown.
Many of DHS’ frontline… https://t.co/QESzlb85ey
— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) March 27, 2026
Thursday marks 40 days since the start of the partial federal government shutdown on February 14.
More than 50,000 TSA workers have been working without pay since their last paycheck in January. This has resulted in nationwide callouts and security screening lines that stretched 4+ hours in Houston.
For days, both of Houston’s airports, Bush Airport and Hobby Airport, have been at the top of list for TSA agents calling out.
Nearly 500 TSA officers have quit during the latest shutdown, the third in the past year. ICE agents were brought to airports nationwide, including both Houston airports, to help with passenger screening.
“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it,” wrote President Trump on his social media platform while speaking of ending the TSA shutdown.
The decision comes as Congress prepares to start a two-week long Easter break on Friday.
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