Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., discusses the ongoing partial government shutdown causing massive disruptions to airports across the country on “The Bottom Line.”
Elon Musk offered to cover the salaries of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff amid the ongoing standoff over government funding.
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA employees during this funding impasse that is negatively impacting the lives of so many Americans at airports across the country,” Musk said in an X after on Saturday morning.
Musk’s offer comes as a month-long partial government shutdown continues and lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the TSA.
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Elon Musk has offered to cover the salaries of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff amid the ongoing standoff over government funding. Musk is pictured speaking on stage in Cannes, France. (Richard Bord/WireImage/Getty Images)
The DHS shutdown has left TSA agents working without pay, leading to staff shortages and long airport lines across the country, while raising concerns about its ability to prevent attacks.
Republicans have pushed for funding for DHS, while Democrats have sought stand-alone funding for agencies like TSA that would exclude immigration operations.
TSA officers are considered essential workers and are required to report to work even during a shutdown, although pay may be delayed.
Passengers wait in line at the check-in counter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains unfunded, in Arlington, Virginia, March 16, 2026. (REUTERS/Kylie Cooper / Reuters Photos)
Musk’s offer appeared aimed at easing pressure as airport lines grow and staffing pressure increases.
Major U.S. airports have experienced severe delays, with security wait times exceeding three hours in some cases, due to high absenteeism rates of TSA officers. The hardest hit airports are Houston (HOU, IAH), Atlanta (ATL), New Orleans (MSY) and Philadelphia (PHL).
Footage from PHL, recorded early Thursday morning, showed hundreds of passengers waiting in elevators and escalators to pass through a security checkpoint.
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TSA employees at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on March 13, 2025. (Annabelle GORDON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
It comes as a top TSA union leader warned Thursday that airport security risks related to the closure are “worsening” as TSA has been under a hiring freeze since last year.
It remains unclear how Musk’s proposed arrangement would work and whether it would be legally possible for a private individual to fund federal employees.
