Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) unveiled legislation on Tuesday that would give Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees who have been forced to work without pay during the shutdown a 10 percent bonus when the agency reopens.
The bill would require that DHS employees, including more than 61,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers, receive a one-time payment from their respective agencies no later than one day after funding is restored.
Many Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers would not be eligible, according to Gallego, because their pay is still being funded through the billions of dollars secured for immigration agencies in the One Big Beautiful Bill last summer.
"For weeks on end, TSA agents have been showing up and keeping our families safe. And they're doing it without a paycheck as Republicans play politics with their livelihoods," Gallego said in a statement. "They've blocked every effort to fund TSA and other DHS agencies, while ICE continues to get paid. These workers deserve to be recognized for their sacrifice."
Roughly 95 percent of TSA employees are deemed essential and must continue working during a shutdown, according to the DHS contingency plan published in September.
Those employees have already missed one paycheck and are set to miss another come Friday if Democrats and Republicans are unable to reach a compromise to end the funding stalemate.
The financial strain has pushed a growing number of workers to call out sick or quit the force altogether, acting TSA Administrator Ha McNeill told lawmakers on Wednesday during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.
McNeill said roughly 460 officers have left the agency since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, and callout rates are also surging as high as 40 to 50 percent at multiple airports across the country.
"Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma and taking on second jobs to make ends meet, all while being expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public," she noted.
The staffing shortage, coupled with an already-busy spring break travel season, has created a backlog at airport security checkpoints, with lines stretching several hours at some of the nation's busiest hubs.
President Trump deployed ICE officers to 14 airports earlier this week to assist with travel disruptions, a move TSA union workers have dismissed as an "insult" and "waste of money" and argue will do little to ease wait times.
TSA has become a flashpoint in the DHS funding fight, which started over Democratic demands for immigration enforcement reform following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minnesota in January.
Senate Republicans have routinely blocked Democratic efforts to pass a standalone bill that would fund TSA and other DHS agencies not responsible for immigration enforcement while negotiations continue.
Billionaire Elon Musk offered early Saturday morning to cover the salaries of TSA workers during the shutdown; however, it was not immediately clear how that would work or if it was legal.