TSA officers lose homes, can't pay medical bills, can't afford Easter baskets for their children

28 Mar 2026 By foxnews

FIRST ON FOX - Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are receiving their third paycheck of zero dollars on Friday amid the DHS shutdown - with President Donald Trump saying late Thursday he would sign an executive order to "immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation" and "quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports," and as the Senate advanced a new, last-minute deal in the wee hours of Friday morning.

The TSA on Thursday afternoon exclusively shared with Fox News Digital stories of officers stationed at various airports across the nation who have experienced personal hardship as a result of the shutdown, with names omitted for privacy reasons.

One officer at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia had his dream of owning a home abruptly shattered - forcing him to make life-altering decisions.

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His bank denied him a loan for a home in Georgia due to his current inability to make rent payments.

The officer now has to move nearly 1,000 miles to go live with family in New York.

Here are other stories.

A TSA officer working at Tulsa International Airport in Oklahoma suffered a devastating house fire last week on top of the challenges of receiving no pay.

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As a result, she lost her home, her belongings, her car and a beloved pet.

She and her family now have to rebuild their lives without knowing exactly when she'll be paid.

Another TSA officer had uprooted her life to move to New York to work at Albany International Airport.

Now, due to the back-to-back shutdowns and her lack of steady pay, her credit score has dropped from 800 to 500.

To survive, she moved into a camper, the agency reported. The electricity in the camper has since gone out - and she can't afford to have it fixed.

At the beginning of the month, powerful storms ripped through Michigan, with tornadoes reducing some homes to rubble and causing widespread damage in the Great Lake State.

Multiple TSA officers working at Detroit Metropolitan Airport were left with damaged homes and vehicles. Today, these officers cannot afford to fix them, the TSA told Fox News Digital.

A TSA agent working at Portland International Airport in Oregon is the sole caregiver for his mother. He also supports his brother.

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His mother has been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, and his brother has suffered a severe leg infection - putting him out of work.

The TSA officer is responsible for these family members' medical expenses.

A TSA agent at Bismarck Airport in North Dakota has worked there for nearly 10 years - enduring multiple government shutdowns.

She made the tough choice now of leaving the job she loves after realizing she can't even afford to buy Easter baskets for her children this year.

Since the start of this partial government shutdown, more than 480 TSA officers have been forced to quit their jobs.

"I can tell you right now that the reverberations that will be felt from this will be long-standing," TSA Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News Digital this week.

"They will continue for days [even] after we get a re-appropriation and funding, particularly for the TSA."

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"We are already taking proactive measures to make sure that we're going to get our people paid as quickly as possible," he added.

Fox News Digital's Alex Miller and Preston Mizell contributed reporting.