ToplineEven though President Trump is finally ready to pay TSA workers, airport screeners tell Forbes that employees calling off from work are likely to continue until they receive a paycheck.President Trump bypassed Congress with an executive order to pay TSA workers. (Photo by Alex Wong)Getty ImagesKey FactsOn Friday, President Trump issued an executive order declaring an emergency and directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them” if not for the DHS shutdown.“TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30,” a DHS spokesperson told Forbes.TSA workers are due to receive a second $0 paycheck Friday. “Callouts might not stop until we get some money in our pockets,” one TSA worker speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation told Forbes, with another officer noting, “I won’t believe it’s over until we actually get paid.”What Changed Since Yesterday?President Trump announced Thursday evening on social media he would sign an executive order to circumvent Congress and restore pay for TSA workers. In the wee hours of Friday morning, the U.S. Senate approved legislation that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA workers—but not ICE. The funding bill now heads to the House, which could vote Friday, in time to be signed by Trump before lawmakers leave Washington on their two-week Easter/Passover recess. TSA workers are “grateful that action was taken,” Everett Kelley, president of the union representing 47,000 airport security workers, said in a statement, but added “Congress needs to continue working to pass a real, bipartisan appropriations deal” that keeps all DHS workers getting paid “even if it means canceling their upcoming vacation.” On Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reportedly told Republicans the House would not vote on the Senate deal and would instead pursue a short-term package to fund DHS. Also, on Friday, Trump issued an emergency order to pay TSA workers, though it was not clear where the funds would come from.Chief Critic“Republicans have voted against Democrats’ proposals to pay TSA agents and fund FEMA and the Coast Guard 14 times,” Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a statement. “They control the Senate, the House and the White House—and have had every opportunity to end the pain of this shutdown … While they finally relented with this long-overdue agreement, their choices remain unconscionable.”What We Don’t KnowHow long it will be before TSA workers see a paycheck. “We won’t know if we’ll be paid until it happens,” one TSA officer told Forbes after hearing of Trump’s executive order. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 guarantees federal employees furloughed or excepted during a government shutdown will receive retroactive pay “as soon as possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.” But a week after the 43-day government shutdown ended last November, many TSA workers had still not been paid, according to local news reports from Phoenix, Orlando and other cities. “It typically has taken weeks to get paid,” one TSA worker told Forbes. “Pay was slow getting to us after the last shutdown, and we haven’t been given a date when we will be paid this time.”Further ReadingSenate Clears Deal To End DHS Shutdown Amid Airport Chaos—ICE Funding Excluded (Forbes)