Trump Signs TSA Pay Order as Airport Disruptions Persist Amid Broader DHS Standoff

President Donald Trump on Friday signed a presidential memorandum directing the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget to use funds tied to TSA operations to provide employees with the compensation and benefits they would have received if not for the ongoing funding lapse. The move came after Congress failed to settle the larger Homeland Security standoff that has stretched into its sixth week and increasingly turned into an airport operations crisis. In the memorandum, Trump said, “America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point.” The White House document describes the situation as an emergency and says more than 60,000 TSA employees, including about 50,000 transportation security officers working at domestic airports, have gone unpaid during the shutdown. It also states that nearly 500 officers have left their jobs, that thousands more have been calling out sick at record rates, and that security waits at some airports have reached three ...