Trump administration pays some TSA employees $10k bonus for working during shutdown

Some Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees who remained on duty throughout the 43-day US government shutdown will receive bonus cheques, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced.

According to Noem, agents who “served with exemplary service” will be awarded $10,000 (£7,581) bonuses in addition to their backpay to help them recover financially. She revealed the initiative while personally distributing several of the cheques to staff at an airport in Houston, Texas.

President Donald Trump has also floated the idea of extending similar rewards to air traffic controllers who continued working and did not call in sick during the shutdown.

How many TSA personnel will ultimately qualify, and the precise criteria for selection, have not yet been clarified.

At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Noem stood alongside nearly two dozen agents as she handed each an envelope and thanked them for their dedication.

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She said that Transportation Security Officers, which include many TSA agents, would receive bonus cheques for fulfilling the mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and for “stepping up, taking on extra shifts” and “for showing up each and every day” to support travellers across the country.

Although the full eligibility rules have not been finalised, Noem said DHS “will continue to evaluate every single employee that helped during the shutdown” and “look at every individual that did exceptional service.”

She added that tens of thousands of workers, from administrative staff to front-line screening agents, took on additional hours to cover for colleagues who were unable to work.

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The bonuses will be funded through DHS carryover money from fiscal year 2025, the department said. Noem noted that savings achieved through contract adjustments and reduced spending requirements also helped make the payments possible.

The shutdown, which began on 1 October following a budget standoff in Congress, caused widespread disruption to air travel nationwide. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration restricted flights due to staffing shortages, particularly among air traffic controllers, some of whom had called in sick or sought other income sources during the prolonged lapse in pay.

Throughout the shutdown, TSA agents worked without pay while managing heavier workloads and operational challenges. Noem said they were “examples to the rest of the individuals who worked with them and endured those hardships.”