DHS Warns TSA Emergency Funds to Exhaust in Early May

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned on Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security will exhaust its emergency funds to pay Transportation Security Administration workers in early May, potentially leading to renewed disruptions at U.S. airports amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.

The agency has relied on a limited reserve since mid-February, when the shutdown began, leaving roughly 50,000 TSA officers without paychecks for about six weeks. Those missed payments triggered widespread absences, causing security lines to stretch beyond four hours at some airports in March, the longest in the agency's nearly 25-year history. President Donald Trump directed the use of emergency funds in late March to cover back pay and current salaries for TSA staff and other DHS employees. However, Mullin stated during an interview on Fox & Friends that the funds, drawn from a roughly $10 billion pool established last year, have dwindled to less than $1.4 billion as of late April.

"My payroll at DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks," Mullin said. "That money is dried up if I continue down this path the first week of May." He added that after the next paycheck,...