President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration officials to ease disruptions at US airports as lawmakers deadlocked on how to end a partial government shutdown.
“I will sign an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullen, to immediately pay our TSA Agents to deal with this Emergency, and to quickly end the Democrat Riots at Airports,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday evening.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, but I’ll do it!”
It is unclear what legal authority the president has to bypass Congress, which controls federal spending, to pay TSA employees.
Meanwhile, it may be difficult for opponents to stop Trump — who succeeded in ordering the military to continue to be paid during the federal shutdown in 2025 — from moving funds to pay the TSA now.
The Republican-led House and Senate have been largely opposed to Trump as he increasingly changes the powers normally reserved for Congress in his second term.
