The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina provides an emergency distribution of food and pantry staples at RDU airport on March 24, 2026 amid the federal shutdown that has left TSA agents unpaid for a month. (Photo: Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina)
While the majority of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents continue to report to work at Raleigh-Durham International airport, local leaders say, they have not been paid for more than a month amid the partial federal government shutdown.
“It’s not that these employees are currently hungry. They’re beginning to starve,” said Mac Johnson, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 449 at RDU airport.
Johnson told reporters Tuesday that TSA agents are behind on their rent and mortgage. Others can no longer afford to take their children to daycare.
“We got folks out here selling plasma to make ends meet,” said Johnson. “These are federal employees. This is a disgrace.”
Democratic Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) held a virtual press conference to highlight the ongoing impact of the Department of Homeland Security shutdown on TSA workers and their families.
Foushee said even as the Senate scrambles to end the budget standoff, she believes that Congress can come up with a solution for DHS that both funds TSA and requires greater accountability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents.
“Any funding solution must reflect our values,” said Foushee. “We need an approach that not only ensures federal workers are paid, but also protects the safety and rights of people in our communities. That means recognizing that our national security is strongest when it is rooted in accountability, transparency and respect for human rights.”
Nina Szlosberg-Landis, vice chair of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Board, said she is grateful that about 90% of the 450 TSA agents working at RDU have continued to show up.
Democratic Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) wants TSA agents paid and accountability for ICE. (Photo: Screen capture from virtual press conference)“RDU has not experienced significant delays at our security checkpoints despite the challenges the situation creates,” said Szlosberg-Landis. “But the longer this federal shutdown continues the greater the risk is of real operational impacts that will not just affect travel plans, they could ripple throughout our regional economy.”
The Trump administration deployed ICE agents to more than a dozen airports this week to increase security in the wake of TSA staffing shortages. RDU was not on that list.
Szlosberg-Landis said screening lines are moving well at Raleigh-Durham, and there are no plans to bring ICE agents in.
Szlosberg-Landis stressed that as TSA agents continue to make personal sacrifices to work without pay, the Raleigh-Durham airport authority has partnered with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and the Diaper Bank of North Carolina to host a food and supply distribution event for TSA personnel. The airport is also launching a gift card donation campaign at RDU to provide more direct and immediate support.
Amy Beros, president of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, said that even before this financial crisis for TSA employees, about one out of seven people in the region was unsure where their next meal may come from.
“It’s the highest level of hunger we’ve seen in a generation,” Beros said.
Amy Beros, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina (Photo: Screen capture from virtual press conference)Beros said when families lose a paycheck, food is often the first thing that gets cut because it’s often the most flexible bill in a family budget.
“For many TSA officers, this is new territory,” said Beros. “I think it’s really important to say out loud that it takes real courage to ask for help, especially when you’re used to being the one others depend on.”
The Food Bank is working with Salisbury-based Food Lion to provide grocery store gift cards, while healthy pantry staples are being boxed up and made available to TSA employees at RDU. Similar plans are in the works for regional airports in Wilmington and Greenville.
Donations remain critical to helping the nonprofit purchase food for this crisis and other ongoing needs, said Beros.
“Ultimately, ending the shutdown and strengthening the safety net requires action at all levels,” said Beros. “We are built for moments like this, but we are not meant to carry them alone. This is a moment for all of us as a community to decide how we can show up together.”
As for Foushee, she said congressional Democrats are ready to fund a deal that ends the Homeland Security shutdown and gets TSA agents paid quickly, as long as the resolution does not include more money for ICE and Border Patrol.
With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement saw its budget balloon by $75 billion.
“We’re not willing to provide more funding for that agency that we believe has gone rogue,” said Foushee.
The Diaper Bank of North Carolina is also providing emergency distribution at RDU airport as the federal shutdown impacting TSA agents continues. (Photo courtesy of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina)Hence then, the article about north carolina food banks increase support as tsa agents work without pay was published today ( ) and is available on NC news line ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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