Overview
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem distributed roughly two dozen $10,000 checks to TSA officers at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and said several thousand employees nationwide are expected to qualify.
- The payments are in addition to legally mandated back pay now being processed following the reopening of the government under a short-term funding bill.
- An internal DHS memo says the bonuses will be funded using fiscal year 2025 carryover money, and officials have not finalized the precise criteria beyond “exemplary service.”
- Supervisors’ performance marks will guide selections, but DHS has not required perfect attendance, and the agency is still reviewing records to determine the final recipient list.
- President Donald Trump has recommended similar $10,000 bonuses for air traffic controllers, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy endorsed, as airports work to recover with some FAA flight limits and delays still in place.