The White House has turned down an offer from Elon Musk to pay the salaries of Transportation Security Administration workers during the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. The situation has already started affecting airport travel across the United States.
TSA workers, on the other hand, are now about to miss their second full paycheck since the shutdown began. So far, they have only received one partial payment, about half their usual pay, early on. With no clear resolution yet, thousands of workers continue to show up for duty at airports, even as their pay remains uncertain.
Musk’s offer — and why it didn’t go through
Musk had publicly said he was ready to step in and help. Posting on X over the weekend, he wrote, “I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country.”
Inside the administration, officials did take the idea seriously. Even Donald Trump seemed open to it, saying, “I’d love it. I think it’s great. Let him do that.”
But behind the scenes, things weren’t that simple. One major hurdle was the law. According to rules from the US Office of Government Ethics, private individuals cannot directly pay government employees. CBS reported that officials also worried that Musk’s existing government contracts could create legal complications if he tried to fund salaries, even indirectly.
According to CBS, there was even some discussion about whether Musk could route the money into a general government fund, which could then be used to pay workers. But that idea also raised legal questions and didn’t move forward.
White House response
A spokesperson for the White House, Abigail Jackson, acknowledged the offer but made it clear why it was declined. She said, “We greatly appreciate Elon’s generous offer,” but added that it would create “great legal challenges” because of his ties with federal contracts. The administration also believes the shutdown may not last much longer, which is another reason they didn’t pursue the idea.
At the same time, press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for the ongoing deadlock. She said, “It’s the Democrats who have led to this stalemate over the past six weeks. The president and the Republicans’ position has been very clear, fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
The financial hit is already huge. The acting head of the TSA said that by Friday, employees will have lost around $1 billion in income when combining this shutdown and another one that lasted 43 days last fall.
Airports hit breaking point
While Washington remains stuck, the situation on the ground is getting worse. The TSA said wait times have now reached the worst levels in its history. At a congressional hearing, acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill revealed the scale of the problem. Since the shutdown began on February 14, the agency has lost more than 480 transportation security officers.
Cities like Atlanta, Houston, and New York City have been among the worst affected. To deal with the rush, the administration has sent in agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to assist at airports. McNeill explained that these agents are handling “non-specialised screening functions” like checking travel documents, allowing TSA officers to focus on core security work.