Sacramento airport TSA agents struggle without pay as partial shutdown continues
Mary Becker has had to let go of many things to continue working as a transportation security officer — her savings, her 14-month-old daughter’s swim and gymnastics lessons and her sense of job stability.
What Becker once considered a sturdy government job has transformed into a headache as the recent partial government shutdown, which cut off pay to the Department of Homeland Security and by extension Transportation Security Administration workers, stretches into its 40th day. Though Becker still is expected to go into work, she won’t see a dime until the federal government determines she can.
The shutdown began Feb. 14 when Congress failed to reach an agreement on immigration enforcement reforms following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — U.S. citizens shot and killed by federal agents. The debate has continued along partisan lines, with each side blaming the other for the resulting callouts by TSA agents and the growing security lines at airports across the country.
Callouts rates have been a little above normal at the Sacramento International Airport, said James Mudrock, a TSA worker for about 21 years. Security lines have remained close to pre-shutdown times, an airport spokesperson said earlier this week, but workers who are showing up report feeling burnt out and fatigued, according to interviews with The Sacramento Bee.
President Donald Trump said Thursday in a Truth Social post that he would sign an executive order to send pay to TSA workers as the shutdown itself continues. “At the direction of President Trump and the Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, TSA has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce,” according to a DHS spokesperson, and TSA officers “should” receive paychecks as early as Monday.
A bill to fund DHS, excluding its immigration enforcement and deportation operations, moved from the U.S. Senate into the House of Representatives, where it was rejected by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson Friday, the day before a scheduled two-week break for Congress, according to the New York Times. As of early Friday afternoon, House Republican leaders were weighing a short-term measure to fund DHS through May 22, which would need to be approved by Senators, many of whom had already left for their break.
Mudrock said he didn’t pay much attention to the executive order claims, which he said do not seem to be legal.
Early Friday, Mudrock had been “cautiously optimistic” about the result of the vote for the bill that had passed the Senate. After it failed in the House, he said that leadership had “failed them.”
“To say I am disappointed is an incredible understatement. To say I am angry would be closer to the truth,” said Mudrock, who serves as the Northern California vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1260. The union represents transportation security officers in California, Nevada and Arizona.
Third shutdown, which means no pay, in 6 months
This is the third shutdown that Becker, Mudrock, their colleagues at the Sacramento International Airport and the about 50,000 TSA agents across the U.S. have experienced within a half a year.
The first shutdown took place in October 2025 and lasted 43 days — the longest in U.S. history. A partial shutdown occurred for four days in early February.
During the first one, Becker had savings lined up and most people she contacted about bills were able to provide extensions or waive fees. Now, after barely recovering, Becker said she has less wiggle room with her finances, which has increased her worries and forced her to cut corners. That includes canceling specialized doctor's appointments for her child because she can’t afford the up-front copay or the gas to drive there.
The last paycheck TSA agents received was on Feb. 28 for the partial workweek completed before the shutdown began Feb. 14. For Mudrock, that paycheck was $600. For Becker, it was $100.
“It was just devastating,” Becker said. She thought about how she wouldn’t have enough to pay rent. She thought about how her hope amounted to “essentially nothing,” she said. She sat down and cried.
Becker said she is grateful she will be paid soon, but also recognizes that because the shutdown may continue it could just be a temporary fix.
“Is this just a Band-Aid?” she said Friday. “Two weeks from now am I going to start missing paychecks again?”
Borrowing money, feeling the stress
Susan Braverman, who has worked as a TSA agent at the Sacramento airport since 2002, said due to the shutdown she has had to borrow money from family members. Also, the stress of showing up for a job without a receiving a steady paycheck is starting to weigh on her emotionally.
“It makes me feel very helpless and stressed,” said Braverman, who is the AFGE Local 1260 director of women’s and inclusive programs. “I’m helping out anywhere I can at the airport, but the people that are left behind... it’s taking a toll.”
Eddy Acosta said Thursday following a rally organized by AFGE Local 1260 that during this shutdown creditors are not as forgiving. During the previous shutdown, his car payment was extended, but that is not a possibility this time.
Acosta’s grandfather also recently had a stroke, and Acosta hasn’t been able to help out as much due to the strain of the shutdown.
“I think we’ve spent more time not being paid than actually being paid,” Acosta said. “So it’s confusing and disheartening.”
Some community members have stepped up to provide gift cards, which have to be under $25 and randomly distributed through management, and food items during the shutdown, according to a post from the Sacramento International Airport.
Even if the shutdown ends, it could take at least a few days to receive a paycheck. Following the extended shutdown in October, Becker said some of her colleagues didn’t get their correct pay until about a month after the shutdown ended.
Braverman said that though she is experiencing turmoil, she is more concerned for her colleagues, some of whom are facing eviction or have children that are hungry or running out of diapers.
“They can’t afford to wait,” she said.
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Sacramento airport TSA agents struggle without pay as partial shutdown continues."
