Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday said she’s giving $10,000 bonuses to “exemplary” Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents following the end of the government shutdown.
“Americans can be proud of TSA workers across the country who continued to serve with excellence throughout the shutdown — many going to great lengths to protect our country, care for their fellow Americans, and keep our nation moving,” Noem posted on the social media platform X.
“President Trump and I are giving a $10,000 bonus to exemplary TSA officers across our nation who went above and beyond their performance,” she continued. “Thank you to the men and women of @TSA — patriots!”
Noem gave out bonus checks to agents during a press conference at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, The New York Times reported. She has not defined what specifically merits the checks.
The checks are “great for some,” Johnny J. Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees’ TSA Council 100, the union that represents TSA officials, told the Times. He added that “it’s better to give everybody a little something, because they all suffered and they all endured hard times during the last 43 days.”
TSA agents, among other government workers across other departments, are expected to receive their next paychecks by Nov. 19, according to an Office of Management and Budget memo obtained by Semafor.
Noem faced pushback during the shutdown after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) played videos of the secretary blaming the shutdown on Democratic lawmakers.
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“It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience possible while we keep you safe,” Noem said in the video. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.”
Some airports stopped playing the video. The Port of Portland, Ore., “did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,” a spokesperson previously told The Hill.
Earlier this month, Senate Democrats called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate what they claimed were “partisan messages released to the public” by federal agencies ahead of and during the government shutdown. They primarily focused on Noem’s videos played at airports.
“Federal law … prohibits agencies from using any appropriated funding, directly or indirectly, to generate publicity designed to influence Congress in supporting or opposing legislation or appropriations,” the group of senators wrote to the GAO.
