Musk Offers to Pay TSA Workers Amid Shutdown
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans.”
Elon Musk said Saturday he would pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees working without pay during the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, as the funding standoff begins to disrupt airport operations nationwide.
TSA officers have now gone weeks without pay while continuing to report to work, a requirement for essential federal employees. Staffing shortages and extended security lines are being reported across major airports, with some agents no longer showing up for shifts and delays stretching for hours in some locations.
I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2026
The proposal is not legally viable, as federal payroll cannot be funded privately. Still, it comes amid a continued dispute over how to structure a deal, including whether TSA should be separated from immigration-related provisions.
The standoff is now affecting workforce stability in ways that could extend beyond the current lapse.
“The acting director yesterday said we had 400 some odd agents that so far have signaled that they’re leaving. That number is going to grow exponentially.”
That warning comes amid existing staffing pressure within the agency. A TSA union leader has cautioned that security risks tied to the shutdown are expected to worsen, particularly given hiring constraints and reduced staffing flexibility.
The potential impact on airport operations has also been stated directly by agency leadership.
Airports could “literally shut down” if a funding deal is not reached.
The financial strain on workers has become part of the broader debate over how long the situation can continue. Senator John Fetterman, who has supported full DHS funding, pointed to the conditions facing TSA personnel during the shutdown.
“TSA agents across the country are relying on food pantries and community donations just to get by.”
The combination of unpaid labor, rising absenteeism, and early signs of attrition reflects a system under increasing pressure. The longer the standoff continues, the harder it becomes to maintain normal operations at airports that depend on a workforce now being asked to operate without pay.
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Comments
Basically the Democrats are holding the entire tourism industry hostage, not just the airlines.
It’s not just tourism. There are business travelers affected heavily too.
I think the teleconferencing is going to get a big boost and when this funding thing is over with, I don’t think the airlines are gonna get all their traffic back.
And that has to be the worst symptoms structure of the day.
Watch the left go even more insane. People need to ask themselves why support the left they hate you.
The second-order effect comes when a chunk of TSA employees with TDS still choose to quit rather than take Musk Money.
Good riddance. Their next career? Starbucks baristas.
That would be a positive
Cynics and naysayers, so quick at the trigger, yet offer nothing besides. Same old stuff. It’s also like there is happiness at the grief.
Can he not gift” the money
Not pay, but a gift?
Geez, you don’t ask a lot, do you.
there are tax implications on gifts
He has the money I dare say
He seemed to be offering more of a bridge loan to fund TSA salaries with the govt to repay him once funding was restored. It was a generous offer to get payroll into the hands of TSA workers in the face of Senate d/prog intransigence.
IMO expecting any taxpayer to voluntarily hand over $ to any level of govt, Fed, State, Local or imply a presumption to do so due to their relative wealth/income comes from Marxist origins.
For Musk, far more likely than not. For most people, no. (Mentioning this only so people reading this don’t freak out and think they owe tax on past gifts.)
You can give $19,000 to any number of individuals, each, per year (this number is periodically adjusted for inflation, so it was somewhat lower in the past). Anything over that goes against your lifetime exclusion, currently $15 million (also adjusted for inflation). Gifts in excess of the lifetime exclusion are taxed at up to 40%.
And that’s per person, not per return – so couples can give their kids twice that amount annually and still be tax free.
His organization can establish a program that allows funding to TSA agents after they show their credentials. Easy peasy. Probably like GoFundMe. Do it Musk! The democrats will become bigger idiots than they already are.
Meh. So shut down JFK, LaGuardia, ATL, SF,.LAX,.SEATAC, CHI next week. Then Vegas, Baltimore, Boston and every other airport in States where their Senators are refusing to vote for the HoR funding bill. Shift the ATC personnel to plus up airport operations in other locations. Pull the Customs inspectors and Coast Guard from the seaports of the same States. Transfer them to other ports in other States. Sign an Executive order for emergency funding to back loans to expand airport operations in what will become the new Hub airports, same for capacity at alternative seaports. Only return personnel to the shut down locations when 100% staffing is reached at new locations.
Checkmate chuckie
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/03/checkmate-schumer-trump-announces-he-will-deploy-ice/
Yep,.putting ICE into the airports and for that matter seaport arrivals and mass transit in immigrant dense metros is a great idea. Let’s also ‘temporarily pause’ arrivals for worker visa and student visa. No approvals and deferral of entry for themselves already approved. That puts more agents available elsewhere in the airport.
Yes, the communist traitors are throwing a fit over this idea as well because it reduces their ability to take the American public hostage to their unpopular ideas.
“The acting director yesterday said we had 400 some odd agents that so far have signaled that they’re leaving. That number is going to grow exponentially.”
Growing rapidly is not the same thing as growing exponentially. Sorry, pet peeve.
The difference between rapidly and exponentially is that neither one is anything close to what has ever actually been seen happen when it comes to any reduction of the federal workforce.
Yep something like 2 Million civilian employees. We could make a good start by privatizing TSA under the local airport authorities, about 60,000 employees. The crazy part is the additional number of Federal ‘contractors’ who aren’t counted in the 2 Million but work alongside ‘Federal employees’ every day, nor the 530K Postal workers. FWIW we had about 3 Million federal employees during WWII when we had about 12 Million Service Members v today with about 1.2 Million. The ratio of civilian to military Federal workers is way out of balance demonstrating the growth of ‘extra’/non essential/non core gov’t programs and the workforce to support these policies and programs.
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