Trump Order to Pay TSA Officers Aims to Ease Airport Security Lines

Passengers face long waits as spring break travel surges amid TSA staffing shortages.

Mar. 29, 2026 at 6:52am

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday instructing the Department of Homeland Security to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, in an effort to alleviate long security lines at major U.S. airports during the busy spring break travel season. However, it remains unclear when the impact of this move will be felt, as some airports continued to report exponentially growing wait times over the weekend.

Why it matters

The TSA staffing crisis has led to daily call-out rates of up to 40% at some airports, resulting in clogged check-in areas and passengers showing up far too early for their flights. This has caused significant disruptions for travelers, especially families and older adults, during a peak travel period.

The details

Trump's executive order came as spring break was in full swing, with many school districts and colleges on break and the Passover and Easter holidays approaching. Some passengers reported little trouble getting through security on early Saturday flights, but others at major airports said lines were growing rapidly throughout the day. Baltimore-Washington International Airport urged travelers to arrive 4 hours before their scheduled departure, while Maryland's governor said more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be deployed to the airport to assist TSA and speed up the clearance process.

  • On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately.
  • On Saturday, some passengers reported short security lines in the early morning, but lines grew exponentially longer at many major airports as the day progressed.

The players

Donald Trump

The former President of the United States who signed the executive order to pay TSA officers.

Markwayne Mullin

The current Secretary of Homeland Security who said TSA personnel could get paid as soon as Monday.

Wes Moore

The Governor of Maryland who said more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be deployed to Baltimore-Washington International Airport to assist TSA and speed up the clearance process.

Caleb Harmon-Marshall

A former TSA officer who runs a travel newsletter and said the staffing crisis won't improve significantly until officers are confident they won't face more skipped paychecks.

Betty Mitchell

A passenger who arrived at Philadelphia International Airport at 12:30 a.m. Saturday for a 5 a.m. flight but waited nearly 3 hours to get through TSA and missed her flight.

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What they’re saying

“We have been told by ICE their personnel will provide operational support and assist at TSA security checkpoints to speed up the clearance process for passengers - not immigration enforcement.”

— Wes Moore, Governor of Maryland

“If it's only for a pay period, that's not enough to bring them back. It has to be an extended pay for them to come back or want to stay there.”

— Caleb Harmon-Marshall, Former TSA Officer

“The airport employees are doing the best they can and I know the airlines are doing the best they can. We certainly have great sympathy for the TSA agents. They deserve to be paid. This is a failure of government, quite frankly. It's just an absolute failure to get things solved for the American people.”

— Holly Reynolds Lee, Passenger

What’s next

It remains to be seen whether the promise of immediate pay for TSA officers materializes on schedule and if it brings an immediate end to the snaking security lines at airports. Experts estimate longer lines could linger for another week or two as airports work to reopen checkpoints and expedite service lanes that were closed or consolidated due to staffing shortages.

The takeaway

The TSA staffing crisis has caused significant disruptions for travelers, especially families and older adults, during a peak travel period. While the President's executive order aims to alleviate the issue, it may take time for the impact to be felt as airports work to restore full operations and TSA officers regain confidence in stable paychecks.