Dallas TSA officers continue working without pay amid ongoing partial government shutdown. It’s getting harder for them to make ends meet.
In February, the Department of Homeland Security entered a government shutdown. That partial shutdown is still ongoing, and stuck amid its complicated wake are thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers across the country who continue to work without pay. CBS News reports that 366 officers have left the field over the last few weeks. Those who remain are experiencing financial strain as they attempt to make ends meet. Johnny Jones is a member of North Texas’s Local 100, and he told CBS News that workers, “missed their paycheck this weekend. It was a big fat zero in a bank account. And two weeks before that, most officers received anywhere between 25 and zero percent.”
Jones said he and his family wanted to plan a spring break trip to Disney World or New Orleans but had to scrap those ideas when it became obvious that an end to the shutdown was nowhere in sight. Most TSA officers have a base salary range of around $34,000 to $55,000, but those salaries haven’t been properly distributed since February 14. The Shutdown Fairness Act was proposed back in October 2025 to help ensure essential workers, like TSA agents, were paid even during government shutdowns. It ultimately failed during a 54-45 Senate vote on November 7.
“With that bill being passed, it would probably eliminate the leverage that they want to use to use the federal employee to whatever they need to use this for in their political bargaining,” Jones said. He added that employees would obviously be in support of a bill that protected their paychecks, but it didn’t seem like politicians agreed. This latest partial government shutdown is influenced, in part, by how much money the Department of Homeland Security wants to put toward the debilitating ICE raids being held across the country. It’s unclear as to when a solution will be agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans, or when TSA officers and other government employees can expect to see their regular paychecks again.
TSA employees are struggling under the financial strain
Gift cards and donations have been given to TSA workers in Texas and beyond as the partial government shutdown continues, which Johnny Jones said they’re all grateful for, but he emphasized that these incremental payments aren’t enough in the long run. “They need $3,000 or $4,000, not $20 for gas so you can get to work,” Jones told CBS News. As the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1040’s president, he knows more than most how hard this has been on North Texas’s TSA officers. “Most people in America don’t know what it’s like to work every single day and not receive a paycheck,” he said.
The president of the North Texas Area Labor Federation, Tevita Uhatafe, is in agreement with Jones. “Once you clock out, you do not have anything to show for what you just did at work. It’s a financial strain that has been further exacerbated by gas prices, food prices. I feel bad for these people, this is really hard,” Uhatafe said when speaking with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He added that it’s difficult for them to remain motivated to show up every day and maintain morale, which is an added layer of frustration for the workforce.
