Elon Musk Offers to Pay TSA Salaries Amid Government Shutdown

Tesla CEO and former advisor to US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk has offered to pay the Transporation Security Administration officers days after they missed paychecks for the second time in six months. The budget impasse over the funding of TSA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, has been going on for five weeks and it has led to longer queues at airport security check-ins , where some employees have been pressurised to work overtime following the absence of several others. “I would like ​to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding ​impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” the world’s richest person wrote on X. This comes after Trump said he will deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund the DHS. “I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. Airlines and travel groups were quoted as saying by Reuters absences among the TSA’s roughly 50,000 airport security officers could ‌increase ⁠again this weekend. Amid the partial US government shutdown, airports have been running food drives and have been receiving donation for security screeners. As per federal date, TSA employees earn an average of $61,000 annually. A partial government shutdown, ongoing since February 2026, has caused staff shortages at the airport security, leading to delays and wait times expected to remain unpredictable over the weekend. Senate Majority Leader ​John Thune said ​on Friday that ⁠bipartisan negotiators have narrowed the remaining disputes over DHS funding, but a deal has not been finalised. Democrats in Congress in February had agreed to fund most ​of the ⁠government in exchange for withholding funds from DHS following the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota by immigration authorities. Last year, Trump ⁠said a ​wealthy donor provided $130 million to help cover possible ​military pay shortfalls caused by that government shutdown, which lasted 43 days and was the longest ​in US history. With Reuters inputs