By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

The Department of Homeland Security will issue $10,000 bonus checks to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents who demonstrated “exemplary” behavior and work attendance during the government shutdown.

“For the last 43 days, we have been dealing with a government shutdown that has dramatically impacted the lives of the American people,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday. “What I’m so proud of though … is the outstanding patriotism and service of our TSA officers and officials that stepped up every single day to make sure that those individuals at our airports and in our transportation system continued to be safe.”

TSA agents – who along with thousands of other “essential” federal employees have worked without pay for the past six weeks – are responsible for screening passengers, baggage, and cargo at airports and other transportation places. There are nearly 50,000 TSA agents working at airports, railways and subways across the country.

All agents will receive backpay, but those who never missed a workday during the shutdown and “served with exemplary service,” such as taking on extra shifts, will also receive $10,000 checks.

Although the DHS is still going through employees’ performance records, Noem expects several thousand will likely receive the bonus, which will be at least partially funded by leftover 2025 agency funds. Backpay, she added, will be processed “as soon as possible,” likely within “the next coming days.”

President Donald Trump has recommended that air traffic controllers with the same perfect performance also receive $10,000 bonuses, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he “fully supports.”

Airports faced increasingly severe staffing shortages from Oct.1, when Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ bill to keep the government open, to Nov. 12, when lawmakers struck a deal and ended the shutdown.

Even before the shutdown, a shortage of air traffic controllers and an aging system caused delays at major airports across the nation, prompting Congress to approve $12.5 billion to modernize it.

Even with TSA agents and air traffic controllers returning to work, it will likely take at least a week for flight volumes to return to normal levels.