Trump to sidestep Congress, pay TSA workers

Kathleen Hunter

Transportation Security Administration workers wait for travelers at the security checkpoint at Albany International Airport on March 23, Photo: Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images

President Trump announced Thursday that he would sign an order to circumvent Congress and restore pay for TSA workers.

Why it matters: The maneuver could help ease widespread delays and disruptions at U.S. airports that have threatened to raise voter ire. It also undermines efforts to strike a deal in the Senate to end the DHS shutdown, now well into its second month.

Driving the news: "I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports," Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday.

"I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer."

Go deeper: TSA staffing crisis escalates as agents quit, stay home

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Trump to sidestep Congress, pay TSA workers

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