FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2026
March 27, 2026
Contact:
Brittany Holder
(202) 737-8700
[email protected]
AFGE President Kelley Statement Following Trump's Order to Pay TSA Officers
While grateful for this action, all DHS employees must be paid immediately
WASHINGTON – In response to events today, including President Trump’s announcement he will instruct Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers and ongoing negotiations in Congress, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement:
"For the past five weeks, AFGE members have been calling on Washington to pay the public servants at the Department of Homeland Security who are protecting this country while the parties work out their differences. Today, that call was answered. The 47,000 TSA officers represented by AFGE will finally be paid, and we are grateful that action was taken to make that happen.
"We don’t yet know what this means for thousands of other DHS employees at FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, among others.
"These workers and their families cannot wait. All DHS workers must be paid immediately.
"Congress needs to continue working to pass a real, bipartisan appropriations deal that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running — even if that means canceling their upcoming vacation.
"And they must pass the Shutdown Fairness Act so that no politician, of either party, can ever hold a public servant’s paycheck hostage again."
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