Topline
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday distributed $10,000 bonuses to some TSA agents who worked throughout the duration of the government shutdown, a day after Congress voted to end the record-long 43-day shutdown.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to the Berkeley County GOP on November 7, 2025, in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Alex Brandon – Pool/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem distributed the checks to some TSA agents during a press conference in Houston, where she announced agents who “served with exemplary service” during the shutdown, including “taking on extra shifts” and “showing up each and every day,” would receive the bonuses.
Trump suggested awarding bonuses to air traffic controllers earlier this week, while demanding they “get back to work, NOW!!!” writing ,“anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked.’”
It’s unclear how many workers will receive the checks or how the recipients were selected—DHS tweeted shortly after Noem’s announcement “around 47,000 frontline TSA officers continued to do an excellent job working throughout the shutdown despite the Democrats holding up their paychecks.”
The agency said Noem awarded the bonuses to “the dedicated men and women of TSA who showed up every day to serve and protect.”
Noem told reporters “that’s not necessarily the parameters” when asked whether workers who did not call out sick or stay home would be the ones to receive the payments.
Tangent
Absences among federal airport workers, including TSA agents and air traffic controllers, prompted an increase in flight cancellations and delays during the government shutdown. The airport workers were among about 730,000 government employees deemed “essential” who were required to work without pay during the shutdown. Flight schedules had yet to recover as of Thursday, as the Federal Aviation Administration left in place a planned 6% reduction in flights at 40 high-traffic airports. Air traffic controllers were expected to receive about 70% of the back pay they’re owed within 48 hours of the government reopening, federal officials have said previously.