Trump Orders DHS to Pay TSA Workers As Partial Shutdown Continues

President Trump on Thursday said he would sign an executive order instructing Department of Homeland (DHS) Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay TSA workers immediately. 

The Details: Trump made the announcement via a Truth Social post, saying he would instruct DHS to "immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation," referring to ongoing travel disruptions at airports across the country. He also thanked TSA agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers for their work amid the ongoing partial government shutdown. Details on how the payments would be made have yet to be released.

Key Quote: Trump wrote: "The Radical Left Democrats, and their "Leader," Cryin' Chuck Schumer, have made it very clear where they stand, and that is, ON THE SIDE OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, AND NOT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE…ecause the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do! I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer."

For Context: Reuters (Center bias) reported that nearly 500 airport security officers have quit since the start of the partial government shutdown. Democrats and Republicans are currently in a stalemate over DHS funding as Democrats push for ICE reforms following two fatal shootings in Minnesota. Republicans have warned Democrats that the current round of talks was the "last and final" offer after nearly six weeks of negotiations. On Saturday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered to pay the salaries of TSA personnel, however the White House reportedly rejected the offer on Thursday, according to CBS News (Lean Left).

How the Media Covered It: Outlets on the right, including Fox News (Right) and Breitbart (Right) focused on Trump's framing of the shutdown as Democrats' fault. Fox News highlighted praise from Mullin who praised Trump for his "leadership finding a way to pay our TSA officers to end this chaos." CNN (Lean Left) emphasized frustration surrounding the partial shutdown, writing that a bipartisan group of senators had made "a furious push to come to an agreement." It also quoted the CEO of a public service nonprofit who questioned why Trump hadn't done this earlier as airport disruptions have continued for over a month. Reuters focused on the impact at airports, including that over 11% of TSA officers didn't show up for work on Wednesday.

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