Fact Check: Could TSA agents be paid with passengers’ ticket fees during shutdown?

WASHINGTON, DC: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers in the US are in a challenging situation due to an ongoing partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which started on February 14.

Approximately 50,000 to 61,000 TSA employees are deemed essential and must continue reporting to work to screen passengers and maintain aviation security, but are working without getting paid.

Amid this, some social media users suggested that a fee collected on every airline ticket should be used to pay TSA agents. But is it really possible? Let us find out below.

Claim: TSA agents should be paid with passengers' ticket fees during shutdown

A Facebook page posted, "ICE agents showed up at airports across the country this morning. Most seemed to have no clear purpose just standing around. Apparently, the only goal was to make travelers uneasy with federal agents hovering around. At least they figured out the no mask thing. Meanwhile, Trump is still withholding pay from TSA agents, the same agents funded by the mandatory security fee attached to every ticket you buy."

Similarly, Brendan Keefe, an Atlanta TV journalist, made the same assertion in an X post on Sunday, March 22, and wrote, "TSA is largely funded by a tax on every ticket. It adds $5.60 to every one-way ticket & $11.20 to round trips. Everyone in line right now is already paying the TSA fee, even for free reward travel. The government has previously diverted that money to the Treasury. Pay the agents."

Notably, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport advised travelers to arrive at the airport four hours before their scheduled flights. Some social media posts showed security lines at ATL gathered around baggage claim and outside the building.

TSA agent absence rates have tripled since the start of the shutdown in February, the Department of Homeland Security informed Business Insider.

Fact Check: False, federal law prevents using ticket fees to pay TSA agents

The claim that TSA agents should be paid with passengers' ticket fees during the shutdown is not true. Even though the passenger fee is real, the federal law prevents it from being used to solve the current funding crunch.

Interestingly, the 2013 law that dictates airline passenger fees allows only a portion of the funds to go directly to TSA. A fixed share is first deposited into the federal government’s general fund, aimed at reducing the federal debt. 

Meanwhile, federal law requires that $1.64 billion in passenger security fees be directed to the government’s general fund in fiscal 2026 and $1.68 billion in fiscal 2027.

Moreover, the law also mentions that $250 million must be used to reimburse airports for expenses related to machines TSA uses, such as baggage screening and explosive detection devices.

In recent history, the proceeds have not been sufficient to cover TSA’s costs, as per the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of Congress.