Most of the Transportation Security Administration’s 60,000 workers began receiving back pay on Monday, easing the financial strain that has troubled them since the partial government shutdown began more than six weeks ago. But with the shutdown persisting, the workers don’t know when they’ll be paid next.
Although security lines at some airports appeared to be easing on Monday, the respite from the chaos may prove temporary if workers aren’t paid again in two weeks. A memo that President Trump signed on Friday ordering the Department of Homeland Security to pay T.S.A. officers did not specify whether they would be paid on a regular schedule. Instead, it directed the department to “provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown.”
Asked whether T.S.A. officers would be receiving future paychecks, Lauren Bis, a department spokeswoman, referred to the question to the Office of Management and Budget. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Bis said most employees had been sent back pay that covered two full paychecks, though workers were still owed another week’s pay. She said in a statement that the department was “working aggressively” to resolve the issue.
While federal workers are legally required to receive back pay at the end of a shutdown, such periods still present hardships: They may incur financial penalties for not being able to pay bills on time, or have to pay interest if they rely on credit cards to pay expenses.
The Department of Homeland Security’s funding lapse, which began on Feb. 14, still has no end in sight. A Senate-passed measure to fund most of the department except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol was rebuked by House Republicans on Friday, and Senate Republicans declined to push through an eight-week extension of funding during a brief ceremonial session on Monday. Congress is in the midst of what is expected to be a two-week recess, diminishing the likelihood of a deal anytime soon.
The impasse stems from a partisan dispute over Mr. Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Democrats have refused to fund the department without imposing new restrictions on immigration officers, which Republicans have rejected.
Aaron Barker, the president of A.F.G.E. Local 554, which represents T.S.A. workers in Georgia, said T.S.A. officers were relieved to be receiving paychecks after weeks of working without pay, but the union was trying to learn more from the agency about future wages.
Mr. Barker criticized Congress for leaving Washington without a deal to fully fund the department.
“They get on a plane and walk right past those very officers that they refuse to fund,” Mr. Barker said. “We want them to get back to it. End the recess. Come back to work.”
Madeleine Ngo covers immigration and economic policy for The Times.
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