After working weeks without paychecks, most Transportation Security Administration agents are finally getting some back pay.
Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said most TSA agents received a “retroactive paycheck” on Monday that covered “pay periods 4 and 5.”
Bis added that the department is working to get pay for half of period 3.
A TSA agent working in the southeast confirmed to Business Insider that he received his compensation for pay periods 4 and 5.
TSA agents have been working without pay due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, which started nearly six weeks ago. It’s resulted in some TSA agents struggling to pay their bills, as well as chaos at some airports, where agents calling out of work contributed to hourslong security lines.
“Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA, and thousands were forced to call out,” Bis said in a statement on Monday.
She added that some TSA agents could face delays in receiving their paychecks due to various reasons, including processing times at financial institutions or issues with direct deposit.
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA agents the compensation they were owed.
However, it’s unclear when TSA agents can expect to be paid again, as the partial government shutdown is ongoing.
As of Monday, some airports were still experiencing long lines at TSA security checkpoints, while wait times at some airports had eased.
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