\n TSA employees just went through<\/a> the longest government shutdown in American history late last year, not getting paid for the hours they worked until weeks after it was over. Then, in February, they stopped getting paychecks again when funding for their department ran out.\n <\/p>\n \n Federal employees are guaranteed to receive back pay once the shutdown ends, according to a 2019 law, but getting by until then can be hard.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t have that (stability). They never recover,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the levers to pull to help them weather the storm, I\u2019m afraid. I\u2019m seeing desperation in the eyes of my coworkers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n TSA workers make an average salary of $35,000, according to Airlines for America<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The agency\u2019s leadership is also aware of the hardship that employees are facing and how their struggles can affect their work. Many staffers live paycheck to paycheck, Ha Nguyen McNeill, a senior official performing the duties of TSA administrator, said in written testimony for a House subcommittee hearing before the funding lapsed.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cDuring a shutdown, the ability to pay for rent, bills, groceries, child care, and gas just to get to work becomes very challenging, leading to increased unscheduled absences (call outs) as a shutdown progresses,\u201d she said. \u201cHigher call outs can result in longer wait times at checkpoints, leading to missed or delayed flights, which has a cascading negative impact on the American economy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Keith Jeffries is a former federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport and current vice president of K2 Security Screening Group. He said spring break is approaching, and it\u2019s US airports\u2019 \u201cbusy season.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYou have federal employees, TSA employees, that are forced to make a decision on, \u2018Do I go to work or stay home with my children, because I don\u2019t have the money to have someone stay with them?\u2019\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \u2018We take hits and hope we don\u2019t get fired\u2019<\/p>\n \n In some ways, this shutdown is even worse than the record-long fall impasse, said one longtime TSA officer, who works at a Texas airport.\n <\/p>\n \n The agency now wants detailed doctor\u2019s notes for every day an employee calls in sick. Last year it was only after three sick days, said the officer, who asked for anonymity to protect his employment. And some physicians are hesitant to provide all the requested information, particularly on how the illness impairs the worker\u2019s ability to do the job.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf we can\u2019t afford to go to the doctor, we take hits and hope we don\u2019t get fired,\u201d the officer said.\n <\/p>\n \n Still, absences are up as TSA staffers try to keep up with their bills after receiving only a partial paycheck at the end of February, the last one they\u2019ll receive until after the shutdown ends, the officer said. Some are finding it difficult to go to work when they can\u2019t afford gas or child care, not to mention food and rent.\n <\/p>\n \n And more of them are reaching out to the agency\u2019s peer-to-peer support line with concerns about their mounting expenses and frustrations over not getting paid.\n <\/p>\n \n The officer had to take off from work recently because he couldn\u2019t afford gas after receiving only one-third of his typical paycheck at the end of last month. He had to borrow money to fill up his tank, which he hopes will last the rest of the week.\n <\/p>\n \n Plus, he had to tap into his retirement account to cover part of his March rent, after working out a deal with his landlord to pay the final $1,000 later. This comes as the officer is still struggling to repay loans he took out during the 43-day shutdown in the fall.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI put myself in debt to serve the American people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n That financial distress, combined with an increase in people traveling for spring break, led to longer airport security lines at the officer\u2019s airport and others around the nation for several days in early March.\n <\/p>\n \n When the government shut down last fall, Cameron Cochems sprang into action. The TSA officer and Idaho vice president of AFGE Local 1127 developed connections with local government officials and nonprofit groups to support his colleagues, who were working without pay.\n <\/p>\n \n Those relationships have proven vital once again. A grassroots community group last week dropped off about $2,500 worth of rice, beans, pasta, toilet paper and other items at his home for him to distribute to his coworkers. And the Boise Airport has placed food boxes<\/a> for travelers to donate to TSA staffers.\n <\/p>\n \n Cochems has also needed the help, especially because his wife was recently laid off from her job as a pharmacy technician. Since he\u2019s not expecting to get a paycheck at the end of this week, he is reluctantly taking $10,000 from his retirement fund to cover his car insurance payment, his wife\u2019s car loan, groceries and other necessities.\n <\/p>\n \n The experience has left him questioning the benefit of being a federal employee, which typically entails a stable paycheck, a stable career and good work-life balance, Cochems said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI have none of that,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Other airports are also asking travelers to support TSA workers. Denver International Airport posted on X<\/a> a plea to donate $10 and $20 grocery store and gas gift cards. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport<\/a> and Harry Reid International Airport<\/a> in Las Vegas are requesting donations of non-perishable food, hygiene products and infant supplies to food pantries they have opened for staffers. Pocatello Regional Airport in Idaho is accepting donations<\/a> of food, household supplies and gift cards.\n <\/p>\n \n The shutdowns have also affected some TSA workers and their families physically and emotionally.\n <\/p>\n \n One officer in Nashville and his wife have suffered health issues since the fall impasse because of the stress. The couple has had to borrow money from family to keep a roof over their and their two young children\u2019s heads. And they have not been able to afford needed work on the old cars they drive.\n <\/p>\n \n Adding to the strain are the warnings from supervisors that taking a day off could be considered absent without leave, or AWOL. The couple felt that pressure when the officer recently couldn\u2019t go to work because their child had a fever.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe question of whether or not we can take care of a sick baby is more stress we don\u2019t need on our hands and wouldn\u2019t have if it weren\u2019t for the shutdown,\u201d the wife told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s still unclear what will push lawmakers to reach a deal to end the shutdown.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cPay them,\u201d House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries exclaimed when asked what Congress could be doing to mitigate this shutdown.\n <\/p>\n \n He pointed to the conflict with Iran and said screeners should be focused on keeping American passengers safe, not worrying about their paychecks.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019re a country at war,\u201d the Democratic leader said. \u201cI love this country just as much as all these federal employees do. They love it just as much. There\u2019s a basic understanding in this great country of ours, when you are scheduled to go to work, you show up for work, but when you show up for work, there\u2019s also a basic expectation that you get paid.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"Travelers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2265162712.jpg\")
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