President Donald Trump says that he’s going to sign an order that will instruct the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA workers. The details of Trump’s proposal aren’t yet clear, but Republicans had earlier been floating the idea of using the National Emergency Act, which they believe would give the federal government more flexibility to use unspent funds on TSA.
“Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do!” Trump wrote as part of a lengthy screed Thursday on Truth Social.
“Therefore, 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,” the post continued.
“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer,” wrote Trump.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Thursday that Republicans on Capitol Hill were thinking about asking Trump to use the National Emergency Act, though it’s hard to tell whether that’s the exact mechanism Trump plans to use in his order.
The president frequently engages in conduct far outside the norm (and sometimes just patently illegal) and it can be difficult to decipher what lever he’ll pull for any given action. Trump’s post referred to an order and an “Emergency Situation,” but he’s known to randomly capitalize things in his social media posts.
TSA is experiencing staff shortages with 11% of officers calling out sick on Wednesday, with some of the worst hit airports seeing callout rates as high as 40%. Security lines at airports have reached historic lengths, stretching for hours at airports in Houston and New Orleans. At least 480 TSA workers have quit in the past month.
The crux of the issue is funding for DHS, which Democrats in Congress have held up because they oppose the way that ICE and CBP have been used to terrorize immigrant communities. Trump has deployed ICE agents to help TSA, which the president positioned as part of an effort to rehab the “fake image” given to them by Democrats in a Truth Social post Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal notes that Trump’s use of the National Emergency Act would likely face court challenges since federal spending must be approved by Congress. But it’s hard to imagine Democrats racing to the courthouse too quickly. Democrats are the ones, after all, who have been proposing legislation that would only fund TSA and not ICE or CBP.
If Trump follows through on this, and doesn’t try to give additional funding to ICE as well, it would appear that Democrats got what they wanted. At least for now.
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