Most rank-and-file TSA staffers who were required to work
during the first pay period of the federal government shutdown will receive
partial pay on Friday, TSA administrator David Pekoske tweeted Friday morning.
"Challenging circumstances force challenging decisions,"
he wrote. "I fully recognize anything short of full paychecks are a
partial measure, and in no way compensates the TSA workforce for the financial
burden many are experiencing."
Approximately 51,000 TSA agents have been working without
pay since the partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22.
TSA employees who will receive partial paychecks include
screeners, explosives teams, federal security directors and aviation and
surface transportation inspectors, according to Politico.
A TSA spokesman told Politico that the pay period covers
Dec. 23 through Jan. 5 and that the agency is able to do this by pulling the
money from remaining fiscal 2018 appropriations.