Trump orders pay for TSA officers as travelers brace for prolonged delays

Congress remained deadlocked Friday night over a plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Hours earlier, as negotiations continued, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing DHS to pay Transportation Security Administration officers.

All the while, travelers at Chicago’s airports were hoping for minimal delays and disruptions.

“They’re keeping us safe,” traveler Belinda Meadors said, referring to TSA employees. “They need to get paid.”

Meadors, a South Side native, arrived at O’Hare International several hours before her flight to avoid a possible chaotic security line.

“You don’t know what to expect,” traveler Mike Bass said.

Bass said he feared staffing shortages would cause a ripple effect as TSA went another week without funding.

“They’re people who get stuck in the middle of all of this and… people are people,” he said. “You feel for people.”

Trump directed DHS to pay TSA officers, with the department saying, “TSA has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce. TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30th.”

The order came before House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced a short-term spending bill that could fund DHS for 60 days, after House Republicans rejected the Senate deal.

Outside O’Hare International Airport, around two dozen protesters demanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers be removed from airports – a measure put in place as TSA staffing dwindled.

“They have no function here,” said Robert Held, an attorney and activist.

Travelers hoping for an end to the shutdown standoff that has already stifled spring vacations for some.

“Now let’s hope Congress acts on a plan to exempt TSA from these shutdown problems,” said Joe Schwieterman, a professor and transportation expert at DePaul University.