As travelers miss flights and lines at some U.S. airports exceed six hours (1), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are set to miss a second full paycheck (2) since the start of the partial government shutdown 41 days ago. Nearly 500 of these workers have resigned from their posts (3), citing intolerable working conditions and financial hardship.
Yet the White House might have just walked away from one possible solution to the budgeting stalemate that’s left the Department of Homeland Security without funding and around 50,000 TSA officers (4) without pay — only for President Donald Trump to announce a plan of his own.
@placment()
The stalemate revolves around immigration enforcement. Democrats have refused to approve DHS funding since February — not long after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis — unless Republicans agree to operational changes at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those changes include requiring agents to obtain judicial warrants before entering private property, wear identification and remove masks during operations.
Republicans have rejected those demands. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday that Democrats had received a “last and final offer.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an offer to bridge the funding divide with his own money late last week, posting on X (5), “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.”
The billionaire would need to pay a reported $250 million (6) to cover the salaries. TSA officers start at around $34,500 annually, with experienced workers earning between $46,000 and $55,000 after locality adjustments (7). And with an estimated net worth of $839 billion according to the 2026 Forbes Billionaires List (8), Musk’s ability to pay isn’t the problem at face value.
The offer comes with legal questions that Trump was nevertheless considering, telling reporters (9) as recently as Monday, “I’d love it. I think it’s great. Let him do that.”
But White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told CBS News (10) that while “We greatly appreciate Elon’s generous offer … this would pose great legal challenges due to his involvement with federal government contracts. The fastest way to ensure TSA employees — and all DHS employees — get paid is for Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
