TSA officers and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees are missing full paychecks as a partial DHS shutdown continues, even as airport passenger security fees keep being collected and accumulating, NPR reported.
- Who’s affected: Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees who are required to report to work during a shutdown, including frontline screening officers, according to NPR.
- What happened: Many TSA workers received little or no pay in their most recent paycheck while continuing to work, NPR reported.
- Why they’re still working: TSA screening is treated as an essential public safety function, and officers can be ordered to work even when appropriations lapse, NPR reported.
- What’s still being collected: Airlines continue to collect the passenger security fee on tickets, and those revenues continue to accrue during the shutdown, NPR reported.
- Core tension highlighted: The NPR report underscores that TSA labor is going unpaid during the lapse while the security-fee revenue stream tied to aviation security remains active.
- What to watch next: Back pay for federal employees typically depends on Congress passing legislation and the president signing it after funding is restored; NPR noted the immediate problem is cashflow for workers during the lapse. (For broader shutdown rules affecting federal pay and back pay, see FedBrief: https://fedbrief.org/)
Context:
The partial DHS shutdown has created a familiar shutdown dynamic for the TSA workforce: employees are required to keep airports running, but pay can be delayed or reduced during a funding lapse. NPR reported that the latest missed or partial paychecks are landing while TSA officers remain on duty, keeping screening lanes open and maintaining aviation security operations.
At the same time, NPR reported that the passenger security fee—paid by airline travelers and collected through ticketing—continues to be assessed and accumulated even while TSA workers go unpaid. That contrast has become a focal point in the shutdown’s impact on frontline DHS personnel, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck or facing near-term bills.
For TSA employees, the immediate concern is not just whether back pay will eventually be authorized, but whether they can cover essentials in the meantime. NPR’s reporting emphasizes that the shutdown’s practical effect is a pay disruption for workers who are still required to show up, with financial stress rising as the lapse continues.
Source: NPR, National Security (March 13, 2026), “TSA workers miss full paychecks as partial DHS shutdown continues, while security fees keep accumulating” — https://www.npr.org/2026/03/13/nx-s1-5745956/tsa-workers-paycheck-airport-dhs-shutdown