WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he will sign an order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers in a bid to alleviate disruptions at U.S. airports with lawmakers in Congress deadlocked on how to end a partial government shutdown.

“I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” Trump declared in a social-media post on Thursday evening. “It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!”

It’s unclear what legal authority the president has to circumvent Congress, which broadly controls federal spending, to pay TSA workers.

At the same time, it may be hard for opponents to stop Trump — who successfully ordered the military to keep getting paid during the last full federal shutdown in 2025 — from moving funds around to pay TSA now. The Republican-led House and Senate have been broadly deferential to Trump as he increasingly flexes powers typically reserved to the legislature in his second term.

Trump’s unilateral action comes amid a weeks-long funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, that has led to staffing shortages and long wait times for air travelers. TSA employees have not been paid for weeks, snarling air travel at key hubs and bringing more risks to an economy already confronting higher oil and gas prices because of the Iran war.

As those disruptions intensified and with lawmakers facing a two-week break, congressional talks to secure a deal took on new urgency in recent days. Democrats have held up DHS funding in a bid to secure changes to immigration enforcement policies following the killings of two U.S. citizens by agents earlier this year. Republicans rejected offers from Democrats for a standalone bill that would pay for the TSA and parts of the DHS that are not related to immigration.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said Trump’s action was a “short-term solution” that takes the “immediate pressure off” of lawmakers, who’ve so far been unable to come to an accord.

Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming spoke with Trump about the order and said the president was doing the right thing. Negotiations on DHS spending will continue, Barrasso added. It’s unclear, however, whether Congress will remain in town or leave Washington for their break.

Democrats are demanding enhanced training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, expanded use of body cameras, and the use of badges clearly identifying officers by name. They also want to bar officers from wearing masks in most situations and require judicial warrants to enter private homes.

Thune said earlier Thursday that Republicans had presented Democrats with a revised proposal to bring the shutdown at DHS to an end, calling it a “final offer” and signaling that he was hopeful that the parties were moving closer to a deal.

Thune had indicated to reporters that Republicans could agree to alter the proposal’s language if needed in order to end the impasse. Democrats had said they were reviewing the GOP proposal.

Trump, however, has increasingly taken a hard line, urging his party’s lawmakers to stand firm against Democratic demands and by pressing Republicans to link DHS funding to passage of a controversial voter ID bill. The president on Thursday morning repeated calls for Senate Republicans to change the chamber’s rules in a way that would allow them to secure funding for DHS without Democratic support.

Trump’s announcement came hours after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “no preparations or plans are currently underway” to “blunt the impact of the Democrat shutdown crisis” when asked about media reports that the administration was considering unilateral action to pay TSA workers.

The prolonged standoff presents a risk to both parties ahead of midterm elections in November to determine control of Congress.

ICE and border patrol agents have continued to be paid through the shutdown, thanks to extra money for those agencies in Trump’s tax and spending bill enacted in July. But others within the department, including Transportation Security Administration workers, have gone unpaid for weeks.

Some TSA workers during the shutdown have been calling in sick or leaving the job altogether. Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers Wednesday the agency has lost more than 480 transportation security officers during the funding lapse.

Airports that have been significantly hit include those in Atlanta, Houston and New York. Lines have snaked through terminals, baggage claims and even outside in some cases, going viral on social media where frustrated passengers griped about the waits and the potential of missed flights.

During a government shutdown last year, Trump also sought to employ other legally questionable maneuvers to pay federal personnel, directing the Defense Department to use whatever funds were available to pay troops. The Pentagon had also said it received an anonymous $130 million donation to pay the military, spurring legal questions. The New York Times reported that the contributor was Republican megadonor and railroad magnate Timothy Mellon.

(Erik Wasson, Steven T. Dennis, Megan Scully, Romy Varghese and Laura Davison contributed to this report.)

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