US Governance — 2026-04-22

DHS says TSA emergency fund runs dry first week of May if Congress does not pass compromise funding

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox and Friends that DHS emergency funding for the roughly 50,000 TSA, civilian Coast Guard, and FEMA workers affected by the agency's partial shutdown since mid-February will run out by the first week of May, citing a biweekly payroll above $1.6 billion. OMB data cited by Federal News Network shows the $10 billion bridge fund had less than $1.4 billion remaining as of April 19. More than 838 TSA officers have quit since mid-February, and AFGE president Everett Kelley warned that unless Congress passes a bipartisan compromise before Friday, April 24, TSOs, civilian Coast Guard employees, and FEMA personnel will go unpaid absent another presidential intervention. CNN reported airport officials expect a return of long security lines absent Congressional action.

Analysis
The 838-officer attrition toll, per converging reporting, is the key capacity indicator: TSA cannot regenerate lost officers quickly, and reduced lane staffing will almost certainly produce disruption visible to the traveling public within the next 10 days, compounding through Memorial Day absent Congressional action. The shutdown's differential treatment (TSOs, Coast Guard civilians, and FEMA personnel unpaid while uniformed Coast Guard and immigration enforcement draw reconciliation funds) is politically sustainable only briefly. A Friday bipartisan compromise advancing TSA funding as a standalone rider, or a Trump executive action replicating March's emergency-funds shift, is the probable near-term resolution. Either outcome preserves immediate operational capacity without closing the structural DHS appropriations gap that will recur absent a full-year bill. Trump may instead allow the lapse to force a broader DHS appropriations deal on his terms, treating airport disruption as congressional leverage rather than political liability.

2 sources

DHS warns it will run out of money to pay airport security workers in coming weeks - CNN
Mullin: DHS to run out of emergency funds to pay staff in early May - Federal News Network