TSA agents to soon go without pay, and the White House won’t bail Dems out

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are on the verge of working without pay and there is no backup plan in place to ensure they do not run out of oversight.

During the longest government shutdown in history last year, the White House was able to redirect funding from the Republican Party’s “big bill” to ensure the military gets paid. But TSA workers won’t get the same treatment.

More than 60,000 TSA workers are expected to receive partial paychecks this week for work they performed before funding expired earlier this month. They won’t receive a new salary until Congress reaches a deal to fund the agency.

TSA agents scan luggage at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. (Valérie Plesch/Getty Images)

And the likelihood of this ending sooner rather than later is low.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said if the Trump administration could “find a way to pay government employees, absolutely.”

“I mean, these are people who have jobs and commitments and families,” Thune said. “And, you know, it’s going to be really unfortunate if we get to a point where I hope we don’t get there, where people aren’t getting paid because Democrats continue to insist on changes in things that are just not feasible or tenable.”

DHS SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO IS WORKING WITHOUT PAY, WHAT HAPPENS TO AIRPORTS AND RESPONSE TO DISASTERS

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have not wavered on their position as DHS enters its 14th day of shutdown. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

But a White House official told Fox News Digital in a statement that, as with the 43-day shutdown, the Trump administration would be able to shift funds “to cover certain DHS employees who were funded by the bill, namely law enforcement and active duty military personnel like the USCG.”

“TSA is not one of them because it has a different funding stream than those other agencies,” the official said.

Republicans say a key factor in the shutdown could be longer airport lines and flight cancellations that begin to pile up as workers go unpaid and take time off. A similar scenario occurred during the previous shutdown, when cancellations increased day after day.

“When people start missing paychecks and you start having disruptions in travel and that sort of thing, it’s going to become more and more painful,” Thune said. “So it would be nice to sort this out beforehand and avoid all of this, but we need to have a partner who actually wants to make a deal.”

DEMOCRATS DEMANDING ICE REFORMS LOSE AIRPORT ESCORTS IN SHUTDOWN THEY TRIGGERED

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., again tried to pass a full-year funding bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, but was blocked a second time by Senate Democrats. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The White House and Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are at odds over finding a compromise deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with hopes for a quick resolution to the ongoing shutdown quickly fading this week.

Both sides have rejected offers over the past two weeks. Senate Democrats argued that, for now, the question of whether the agency would be reopened and TSA workers would be paid was in the hands of the White House and Republicans.

Senate Democrats described the negotiations as completely stalled and placed responsibility for continuing discussions on the Trump administration.

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“We told them what our priorities were, they responded with a very, very weak and limited response,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “And we said, ‘No, that’s what our demands were. We made some changes,’ nothing in return.”

Asked if she thought the White House was negotiating in good faith, Murray said, “Not yet.”

But Senate Republicans said discussions were taking place among members.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., hoped she could convince enough Senate Democrats to come on board and ensure that TSA agents, and others, would not go without pay for the foreseeable future.

“I make an effort to talk to people,” Britt said.

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