Trump Urges Unpaid TSA Agents to 'GO TO WORK'

President Trump is urging airport security officers to keep working without pay amid a shutdown he blames on Democrats, USA Today reports. In a Truth Social post Sunday, the president thanked Transportation Security Administration workers, calling them "great," and singled out Johnny Jones, a Dallas-based TSA officer and union official, for continuing to show up despite the ongoing partial government shutdown that has halted their paychecks. "Keep fighting for the USA. GO TO WORK!" Trump posted. "I promise that I will never forget you!!!" Trump said "Radical Left Democrats" were responsible for the funding lapse.

Roughly 50,000 TSA officers are still on the job but not receiving regular pay after Congress failed to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security in mid-February. March 13 was the first payday they missed in full, and airports around the country have reported longer security lines as unpaid agents struggle with bills and, in some cases, resort to sleeping in cars. Jones previously told USA Today that some workers' bank accounts are at zero or overdrawn. The New York Post reports hundreds of TSA workers have quit since the shutdown began, and CBS News reports unscheduled absences have more than doubled.

The mounting strain is drawing pressure from beyond the security lines, the AP reports. Airline leaders from major carriers including American, Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, and others, along with FedEx and UPS, have urged Congress to restore DHS funding, warning that staffing shortages and slowdowns could hit record spring travel just as it ramps up. "Once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown," they wrote in the open letter.