Major US Airports Begin Returning to Normal As TSA Agents Set to Get Paid
By Reuters | 30 Mar, 2026

Trump's Friday emergency directive orders TSA workers to get paid as soon as Monday despite Congress's inability to end the 45-day-old partial government shutdown of the Homeland Security Department.

Passengers wait in a TSA security checkpoint queue that stretches through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) in Baltimore, Maryland., U.S., March 29, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz

Major U.S. airports that suffered massive disruptions for weeks after 50,000 Transportation Security Administration security officers went unpaid since mid-February say operations are returning to normal.

Airports in Baltimore, Houston, New York, New Orleans and Dallas, which have all experienced massive delays in recent weeks, all reported very short lines on Monday.

President Donald Trump signed an emergency directive on Friday ordering TSA workers to get paid despite a failure of Congress to end the 45-day-old partial government shutdown and the Homeland Security Department said workers are to be paid as soon as Monday.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)