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Trump Tells Mullin to Pay TSA Agents

President calls situation an emergency, but White House releases no details on his plan
Posted Mar 26, 2026 6:33 PM CDT
Trump Says He'll Invoke Emergency Powers to Pay TSA
A display shows 15 minutes or less wait times for TSA lines and flight delays few at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Thursday, March 26, 2026.   (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

President Trump said Thursday he'll bypass Congress to get paychecks to airport security workers as a standoff over immigration policy keeps the Department of Homeland Security unfunded. Trump announced on Truth Social that he will sign an order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to "immediately" pay Transportation Security Administration employees, invoking what he called legal "authorities" to respond to what he described as a national emergency created by Democrats. The White House did not explain what specific law would allow the administration to make those payments without a congressional appropriation, the Washington Post reports.

A national emergency declaration would be almost certain to face legal challenges, the AP points out. Trump might instead be planning to shift money from other sources to pay the agents, whom he has urged to keep working at airports despite going unpaid . GOP Sen. Susan Collins has said there's funding elsewhere that can be legally used to pay TSA, as well as the Coast Guard, without declaring a national emergency. Negotiations among Senate Republicans, Democrats, and the White House have intensified but produced no deal, in part because the GOP lacks the 60 votes needed to advance its broader "Save America Act" voting bill, which Democrats unanimously oppose. Any Senate compromise would also have to clear the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has not promised to bring the emerging Senate framework to a vote.

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