NC food banks distribute groceries to TSA agents
Big News Network- Zamone Perez - 6th April 2026
Even though Transportation Security Administration agents are starting to get paychecks again, one union official pointed out their household bills have piled up, so North Carolina food banks are helping to ease the effects of the partial government shutdown.
TSA employees had indirectly fallen victim to the congressional impasse over funding for ICE and Border Patrol in the Department of Homeland Security budget. Paychecks started arriving again on March 30, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order.
Mac Johnson, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 0449, which represents TSA employees at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, said agents still are not yet on firm financial footing.
"They still have to catch up on their bills," Johnson pointed out. "I anticipate within a week or two that all of those funds will be exhausted, catching up on overdue bills."
To support TSA agents, the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority partnered with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. The groups hosted a food and supply drive for TSA agents, most of whom have kept showing up for work during the shutdown.
