By Olivia Rinaldi
Updated March 26, 2026 / 3:43 AM EDT / CBS News
The White House declined Elon Musk’s proposal to cover Transportation Security Administration pay during a partial Department of Homeland Security funding gap, multiple sources told CBS News. Officials reviewed the idea but raised legal concerns tied to Musk’s existing federal contracts and said they expected the lapse to end soon.
Administration spokespeople pushed lawmakers to resolve the impasse, accusing Democrats of prolonging the standoff and urging congressional action to fund DHS. The White House said the quickest way to guarantee pay for TSA and other DHS staff is for Congress to pass appropriations.
Musk announced on X that he would be willing to pay TSA salaries while the funding problem disrupts air travel. President Trump said he supported the offer when asked by reporters.
Two people familiar with internal calculations estimated the cost of covering TSA payroll at roughly $250 million. Officials from DHS and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Legal advisers flagged a complication: an outside individual cannot directly pay federal employees under federal ethics law (18 U.S.C. § 209). Administration officials explored whether Musk could instead route money into the government’s coffers — for example, through the Treasury’s Gifts to the U.S. Government account, which can be applied to budgetary needs — but said such approaches raise complexities.
A White House spokeswoman said the administration appreciated the gesture but reiterated concerns about legal entanglements stemming from Musk’s government contracts and again urged Congress to act to restore funding.
TSA workers face missed pay as the partial shutdown continues. Employees already received only a half pay period earlier in the lapse and are facing a second full missed paycheck. The acting TSA administrator has said agency staff collectively stand to lose about $1 billion in wages when combining the current 40-day lapse with a 43-day shutdown last fall.
Reporters Kristin Brown and Kathryn Krupnik contributed to this article.