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• Scroll down to read the headlines on the Trump administration and the DHS shutdown.
What we covered
• DHS shutdown: Administration officials say TSA workers will receive paychecks in the next couple of days under President Donald Trump’s plan to unilaterally fund the agency. Some workers are starting to see their back pay being processed for payment, a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees said. Congress remains in a stalemate over the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
• Air travel: Airport wait times have shown signs of easing on another busy travel day. Border czar Tom Homan told CNN “we’ll see” whether ICE starts leaving airports once TSA agents receive pay. The administration deployed immigration officers to help address staffing shortages as spring travelers faced hourslong waits at some major hubs.
• “No Kings” protests: The gridlock on Capitol Hill and in the nation’s airports served as the backdrop for nationwide demonstrations yesterday against Trump’s agenda, the war with Iran and affordability issues.
TSA workers start seeing their back pay being processed
Some Transportation Security Administration workers are starting to see their back pay being processed for payment, a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA officers, told CNN this evening.
However, workers are concerned they won’t receive all the compensation they are owed in this payment. From what they can tell, only the two full paychecks they missed in March are being processed – not the rest of the partial payment they received in late February, the spokesperson said.
The funds have not yet hit their bank accounts.
Roughly 61,000 TSA employees have been working without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed February 14, prompting a partial government shutdown. The employees have missed more than $1 billion in pay, making it difficult for many to afford food, gas, housing, child care and other essentials.
DHS said TSA workers should start receiving their back pay Monday after President Donald Trump ordered the agency Friday to immediately resume compensating them. DHS plans to use funding from the “big, beautiful bill” that Trump signed into law last summer, two people familiar with the plans said.
CNN has reached out to TSA and DHS for comment.
TSA workers speak out while lawmakers dig in on funding fight. Catch up here
TSA workers in the nation’s capital voiced frustration with Congress today, even as Trump administration officials say their pay will resume this week.
In conversations with CNN, agency employees at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, said they feel unseen and burnt out.
And a TSA officer at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York told CNN that he and fellow agents “don’t want to be caught up in partisan fights,” instead hoping for a long-term solution so civil servants are not impacted in future negotiations.
Here’s a recap of other headlines from the past few hours:
- House Majority Leader Steve Scalise criticized an ill-fated Senate deal that would have largely funded the Department of Homeland Security but carved out immigration funding, claiming on ABC’s “This Week” that some senators who voted for it “have expressed buyer’s remorse.” The bill passed through the upper chamber but was rebuffed by the House GOP on Friday.
- But Republican Sen. Ron Johnson defended the Senate compromise, noting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents are still being paid through Trump’s domestic policy package as the GOP wrangles with Democrats over funding DHS.
- Meanwhile, TSA wait times appear to be shorter today at some key airports. CNN spoke to travelers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport who had been prepared for the worst.
- More than 2,800 TSA officers, or 10.27% of workers nationwide, called out of work on Saturday, according to data from the DHS, with five major airports reporting individual call out rates of 30% or higher
CNN’s Amanda Musa, Camila DeChalus, Aileen Graef, Maria Sole Campinoti and Alison Main contributed to this report.
TSA officer urges long-term fix so civil servants aren’t “pawns” in negotiations
Carlos Rodriguez, a Transportation Security Administration officer at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, told CNN that he and fellow agents “don’t want to be caught up in partisan fights.”
He added that while he appreciates the bipartisan support from Congress and the White House to pay TSA workers amid the partial government shutdown, a long-term agreement is the goal.
“The idea would be that we not continue to be a pawn in political negotiations for the future, and that the stability of the civil servants is not at risk,” he said.
Saturday saw fewer TSA workers call out, but absences still reached the thousands
More than 2,800 Transportation Security Administration officers, or 10.27% of workers nationwide, called out of work on Saturday, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security, with five major airports reporting individual call out rates of 30% or higher.
For several days now, TSA staffing shortages have triggered hourslong lines at major airports across the country, including in Baltimore, Houston, New York and Atlanta.
On Saturday, approximately 33% of workers did not show up for work at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport – about 30 miles from Capitol Hill – where lines snaked through the airport, eventually leading travelers outside to wait in the cold.
“(There are) babies outside, the elderly, people in wheelchairs, they’re freezing,” one traveler named Kevin told CNN affiliate WBAL.
Here’s a full breakdown of the call out rates shared by TSA:
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport: 38.3%
- Houston Hobby Airport: 36.8%
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport: 33.5%
- John F. Kennedy International Airport: 31.8%
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: 30.8%
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport: 27.7%
- Philadelphia International Airport: 25.1%
- Pittsburgh International Airport: 18.9%
- LaGuardia Airport: 18.1%
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport: 17.7%
TSA workers say they feel unseen and frustrated despite pay set to resume
TSA workers in the nation’s capital are voicing frustration with Congress even as Trump administration officials say their pay will resume, at least temporarily, in the coming days.
Another TSA worker said bluntly, “We just need to get paid.”
He said employees have been informed pay is expected to resume Monday. Still, he lamented Congress’ DHS funding stalemate, saying there “needs to be a compromise some way, somehow.”
“They need a man up, sit down, and actually talk instead of just voting on the same bill over and over again,” he said.
And while he said he understood the push for changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement practices, he said everyone doing a job deserves compensation.
“I understand ICE is getting a lot of backlash – as it should. I feel like they are definitely out of control,” he said. “At the end of the day, no one should work without pay, whether or not your job is hated, it’s still a job. Everyone should get paid.”
Former TSA administrator hopes workers will see paychecks soon
TSA workers could see paychecks soon, which is a good thing for everyone, including travelers who have been dealing with unpredictable security wait times in recent weeks, former TSA administrator John Pistole told CNN.
Pistole said he hopes TSA workers will see paychecks again after President Donald Trump said workers will be paid as early as Monday.
If TSA officers continue to work unpaid, the agency will likely see longer security lines at airports, more callouts and possibly lose more workers than it already has, Pistole noted. About 500 TSA employees have quit since the partial shutdown began.
“That sense of security and stability may not be there for many people, and some of them are already doing other jobs, just waiting to collect that paycheck before they inform TSA,” he said.
The TSA workers who are still on the job are being underappreciated, Pistole said, calling on Congress to “get its act together” to pay TSA workers and restore a sense of predictability to traveling.
Wait times down at some key airports on Sunday
Security checkpoint lines at some key airports showed improvement by Sunday afternoon, with estimated wait times down at the start of another particularly busy spring break travel day.
Check CNN’s tracker for updates on TSA wait times from select major airports.
Here’s what we’re seeing so far today:
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Sunday posted on their website, “Checkpoint wait times have improved from Saturday, but remain longer than normal.” Their checkpoint wait time data feed was temporarily unavailable, but travelers departing from Concourses A, B and C could see the most impact, according to the airport. Officials advised travelers to arrive three hours before their scheduled departures, however one CNN reporter traveling through BWI this morning reported taking one hour and 15 minutes from arriving at the airport and getting through security.
New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport along with New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport weren’t quite as bad Saturday as some other airports. By this afternoon, JFK’s wait time was 42 minutes, while LGA’s was 20 minutes and EWR’s was 39 minutes.
At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, some on social media early Sunday reported long wait times before the security lines opened but others reported the lines moving fast once they got going. CNN’s tracker estimated the wait time was about 40 minutes by early Sunday afternoon.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had a rough start at 5 a.m. with long wait times, according to CNN’s Rafael Romo, but by 8 a.m., the lines started to dwindle. Passengers are still advised to allow at least four hours or more for screening.
This post has been updated with the latest from major airports.
Travelers at LaGuardia face short security wait times — though many prepared for the worst
Travelers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport were facing relatively short security wait times Sunday afternoon – though many of them prepared for the worst.
Marquilla Brooks, who was traveling to Birmingham, Alabama, told CNN she planned to arrive at the airports earlier while on her trip and was “shocked” to see how short the security line at LaGuardia was.
As for the TSA workers who have had to work without pay, Brooks said, “We should take care of our people.”
“They are service people, so they provide a great service. We should compensate them,” she said.
Another traveler, Sean Hubbard, told CNN he arrived at the airport about five hours before his flight to Denver and found his flight was about an hour delayed.
Kayden Dominguez, who was passing through LaGuardia with a friend, said this is the first time she’s actually decided to check the TSA wait times and was relieved to find a short line to get through security.
“The less time I have to be here, the better,” she told CNN.
As for President Donald Trump’s executive order to pay TSA workers, Dominguez said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas contributed reporting.
House and Senate Republicans at odds over DHS funding strategy
House Republicans aren’t budging on their rejection of a bipartisan Senate-passed deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, a position that’s prolonged the partial government shutdown as both chambers left town for a two-week holiday recess last week.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise today criticized the last-minute Senate deal, which passed in the early hours of Friday morning and carved out funding for immigration enforcement, claiming on ABC’s “This Week” that some senators who voted for it “have expressed buyer’s remorse.”
Scalise said reopening DHS is back in the hands of the Senate, telling ABC, “They’ve got to come back and deal with it. I hope they pass the short-term bill that at least funds everything.”
Rep. Lisa McClain, another member of GOP leadership, slammed the Senate’s bill as “absolutely unacceptable,” telling Fox, “We will not negotiate while they are holding not only our national security hostage, but while they’re holding the Department of DHS, (Transportation Security Administration) agents hostage and not getting them paid.”
Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson defended Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s strategy to broker an agreement to fund the majority of DHS, since Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents are currently being paid through Trump’s domestic policy package.
“The people rolling the dice right now are Democrats, Republicans in the House, thinking Democrats will ever agree to anything other than what we’ve on the table got on the table,” he said.
TSA workers called out in record numbers on Friday
Ahead of a busy travel weekend, TSA agents called out in the highest reported numbers since the beginning of the partial government shutdown, breaking the previous record set the day before.
More than 3,560 TSA officers, or 12.35% of workers nationwide, called out Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said today.
The new figures top the record set Thursday at more than 3,450 TSA workers, or 11.83%.
“At the direction of President Trump and the Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, TSA has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce. TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
President Donald Trump issued a promised memo Friday calling for TSA workers to be paid immediately, but union officials said there is confusion about how the move will roll out.
TSA workers have missed their second full paycheck after funding for DHS, TSA’s parent agency, lapsed on February 14, resulting in massive security screening delays at airports nationwide in recent weeks as TSA workers worked without pay or called out, and 500 have quit, DHS said.
Here’s a full breakdown of the call out rates shared by DHS:
JFK 38.9%
BWI 35.6%
PIT 24.1%
LGA 23.6%
PHL 29.6%
HOU 46.8%
IAH 44.5%
PHX 22.7%
ATL 38.4%
MSY 42.4%
DCA 23.0%
CNN’s Aaron Cooper and Emma Tucker contributed to this report.
Officials say TSA will receive pay soon, as airport wait times show signs of improving
Border czar Tom Homan said he expects TSA staff to receive paychecks as soon as Monday or Tuesday, telling CNN this morning that he’s keeping in touch with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Security checkpoint lines at some key airports have shown improvement so far today, with estimated wait times down at the start of another particularly busy spring break travel day. Check CNN’s tracker for updates on wait times from select major airports.
If you’re just joining us, here’s a quick recap of our coverage so far:
- Homan praised President Donald Trump’s move to unilaterally pay TSA officers despite the ongoing DHS shutdown, while expressing frustration with the funding fight on Capitol Hill.
- The border czar said “we’ll see” whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will pull out of airports after the paychecks are sent.
- Meanwhile, Congress is on a two-week recess with no DHS deal in sight. House Republicans rejected a bipartisan funding deal cut by their own Senate GOP counterparts and instead approved an entirely different plan Friday. Senate Democrats, who are holding out for immigration reforms, have said the House plan is a non-starter.
- Appearing on Sunday political talk shows, Democrats placed the blame squarely on Republicans. “The American people are left hanging because of the president’s incompetence here,” Sen. Andy Kim told CNN’s “State of the Union,” responding to Speaker Mike Johnson’s claim that his House plan had the president’s backing.
- Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Cory Booker also questioned why Trump’s executive action ordering TSA workers to be paid did not come earlier during the partial shutdown.
Meanwhile, CNN spoke to a TSA agent who is facing the threat of eviction after weeks of working without pay:
CNN’s Alison Main, Chris Boyette, Riane Lumer, Julia Benbrook and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
75 people arrested in LA after "No Kings" protest
In total, 75 people were arrested in Los Angeles after being given a dispersal order following a “No Kings” protest in the city Saturday, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told CNN.
Sixty-six adults were arrested for failure to disperse, police said, and one was arrested for “possession of a dirk or dagger.”
Eight minors were arrested for failure to disperse, according to police.
There were no injuries reported among the people arrested but one officer suffered “minor cuts and bruises,” the spokesperson said.
The arrests took place on Alameda Street, where the LAPD said on X that federal authorities deployed tear gas after demonstrators threw “large concrete blocks, bottles and other objects” over the property’s fence.
TSA officers will no longer be able to accept donations
Transportation Security Administration officers will not be able to accept donations of gas or gift cards once they receive their back pay, according to TSA.
Roughly 61,000 TSA employees have been working without pay since the funding for DHS lapsed on February 14, prompting a partial government shutdown. They have missed more than $1 billion in pay, making it difficult for many to afford food, gas, housing, child care and other essentials.
The shutdown has prompted more than 500 workers to quit and thousands to call out, causing long lines at multiple airports nationwide. Many airports and nonprofit groups have been donating food and gas gift cards to officers in recent weeks.
However, the workers should start receiving their back pay on Monday after President Donald Trump on Friday ordered DHS to immediately resume compensating them. The agency plans to use funding from the “big, beautiful bill” that Trump signed into law last summer.
However, the American Federation of Government Employees has questioned the move, including how long workers will be paid if Congress does not agree to fund the agency for the rest of the fiscal year.
Homan evasive on why Trump didn't order to pay TSA agents sooner
During an interview with Tom Homan on CNN’s “State of the Union” this morning, Jake Tapper pressed the border czar on why President Donald Trump didn’t move to pay TSA agents earlier during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
If you missed the interview, you can watch that moment below:
Democrats blame House Republicans, Trump for prolonged DHS shutdown
Democrats in interviews today blamed Republicans for prolonging the partial government shutdown, after House Republicans last week passed their own short-term bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, despite their colleagues in the Senate approving a separate bipartisan deal.
With the House GOP’s plan going nowhere in the Senate, there’s no end in sight for the shutdown, which has affected airports across the country with TSA shortages.
“The American people are left hanging because of the president’s incompetence here,” Sen. Andy Kim told CNN’s “State of the Union,” responding to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s claim that his House plan had the backing of President Donald Trump, who opposed the Senate version last week.
Kim added that many House Democrats, and some Republicans, were supportive of the Senate deal, which the chamber passed in the early hours of Friday.
Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Cory Booker also questioned why Trump’s promised executive action ordering TSA workers to be paid did not come earlier during the partial shutdown.
“Now, President Trump has said he has the emergency authority to spend money for TSA. And the question I have is, why didn’t He use that 45 days ago? And is he going to now use it?” Van Hollen told ABC’s “This Week.”
Booker echoed the sentiment on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” asking why Trump hadn’t made the move “weeks ago when we started seeing the suffering of folks at the airports.”
“Remember, this fight has never been about TSA,” Booker said.
Border czar says he's had no discussions with Trump about sending ICE to polling sites
White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday he’s had no discussions with President Donald Trump about sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations for midterms this November, as Trump continues to escalate baseless theories about widespread election fraud.
Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who holds no official role in the administration, has called on Trump to send ICE agents to polling locations during the elections, and several administration officials have not completely closed the door on the idea.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last month she “can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November. I mean, that’s frankly a very silly hypothetical question.”
And at his confirmation hearing for to lead DHS, Mullin also didn’t rule out the possibility.
“The only reason why my officers would be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation,” Mullin told lawmakers. “Then we will work with local law enforcement. There will be a reason for us to be there, and it’ll be known why we’re there.”
It comes amid a broader push by the administration to expand federal influence over elections. Trump allies are eager for the president to declare a national emergency tied to elections and impose strict federal oversight of the 2026 midterms.
Read more: ICE agents have been deployed to airports. Are the polls next?
CNN’s Gabe Cohen contributed reporting.
Homan says paying TSA agents is “a start” as funding fight continues
White House border czar Tom Homan praised President Donald Trump’s promised executive action to pay Transportation Security Administration officers, while expressing frustration today with the funding fight on Capitol Hill.
“They just need to fund the Department of Homeland Security,” Homan told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“I’m just glad that President Trump is able to pay the TSA agents at least that’s a start.”
But, Homan said, paying TSA officers is only part of the problem.
“There’s a lot more, many more, thousands more, tens of thousands of more DHS employees who are not being paid, that need to be paid,” he added.
When pressed on why Trump didn’t take that step sooner said he wasn’t clear.
“I’m a cop. I don’t understand the whole appropriations language, appropriations law,” Homan said.
Under the direction of Homan, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deployed to various airports this week to help with security efforts.
“I’m working very closely with the TSA administrator and the ICE director to decide what airport needs what,” Homan said. “We’ve got to keep American people going through those lines and ICE is helping, you know, shorten those lines.”
Homan: “We’ll see” if ICE starts leaving airports once TSA officers get paid
White House border czar Tom Homan said “we’ll see” if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will pull out of airports, as pay for TSA officers is expected to resume under an executive order.
Timing on paychecks: Asked if TSA agents can expect a paycheck tomorrow, Homan said he is in talks with the new Department of Homeland Security secretary for pay to go out Monday or Tuesday, as Congress remains deadlocked on government funding and has left town on a two-week recess.
Some context: President Donald Trump on Friday issued a promised executive action that TSA employees be paid immediately. TSA workers could start seeing their paychecks as soon as Monday, according to DHS.
Two people familiar with the plans said DHS plans to use funding from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda package that he signed last summer. The executive action didn’t specify that, instead more broadly calling for the use of money with “a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations.”
TSA agent says working without pay feels like “a hostage situation”
After weeks of working without pay throughout the partial government shutdown, one TSA agent is facing the threat of eviction as she continues clocking in daily to try to protect US travelers.
This is the second time Kimberley Fondren, a TSA agent in Memphis, Tennessee, has faced the prospect of eviction due to a government shutdown that’s left her working without a paycheck, she told CNN Sunday morning.
Fondren has been driving for Uber and Lyft to try to supplement her income, she said.
“It is like a hostage situation because you’re not being paid,” Fondren said, adding she still takes her job to protect travel and the American people seriously.
Fondren is one of thousands of TSA workers who have been forced to work without pay, call out or quit as Congress failed to come to an agreement on DHS funding. President Donald Trump is now attempting to unilaterally fund TSA without Congress, meaning some workers could soon see paychecks, but the details are still murky.
In response to Trump’s executive order to fund TSA, Fondren said, “I’m thankful that we are finally going to get what we are owed.”
“At the end of the day, this is a very important job … it’s a career, really. And that’s what everyone wants, is a stable career,” she said.
