Billionaire Elon Musk offers to pay salaries of US airport security agents affected by partial government shutdown
The billionaire Elon Musk has offered to pay the salaries of security checkpoint agents at American airports who, considered essential personnel, have been working without pay due to a partial budget paralysis since mid-February.
Billionaire Elon Musk makes a gesture towards thousands of government officials. He offered on Saturday, March 21 to pay the salaries of security checkpoint agents at American airports who, considered essential personnel, are working without pay due to a partial budget paralysis since mid-February.
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of (the Transportation Security Administration) TSA employees during the budget impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans in the country’s airports,” Elon Musk posted on his own X network.
Since February 14, the funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – the agency responsible for security checks at airports – has been frozen due to the deep dispute between Democrats and Republicans in Congress over immigration enforcement practices (ICE).
About 50,000 officials affected
Due to this partial shutdown, thousands of federal officials from the DHS have been furloughed, while thousands of others, in essential roles, continue to work. In both cases, salaries will not be paid until lawmakers agree on a budget for the DHS, which ICE depends on.
The TSA officials – about 50,000 people – have not been fully paid since March 13. According to various estimates, the average annual salary of these agents is between $50,000 and $60,000, totaling between $2.5 and $3 billion for an entire year.
As a result of this situation, absenteeism has increased among their ranks – some have found other work while waiting for lawmakers to agree – while others have resigned.
As a result, security checkpoint queues have lengthened and it is not uncommon to now have to wait several hours at American airports to pass this stage and reach the boarding area.
Elon Musk is the richest person on the planet, with a fortune estimated by the latest annual Forbes ranking – published on March 10 – at $839 billion, up from $342 billion a year ago. “My ‘net worth’ is almost entirely due to the shares held in Tesla and SpaceX,” Elon Musk posted on X in mid-February, claiming to have “less than 0.1% of that in liquid assets.”
