Cash-strapped Transportation Security Administration workers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport who were given $1,000 gift cards by filmmaker Tyler Perry are reportedly being told to return the generous gifts, according to a local report.
TSA agents haven’t been paid in six weeks as part of the longest partial government shutdown of all time, and many of them have been struggling to make ends meet.
Some workers began getting paychecks on Monday thanks to an executive order by President Trump — but the agency still hasn’t been funded by Congress.
Looking to ease their burden, Perry reportedly initially went to the airport, the busiest in the world, to hand out cash to the workers, but was told federal rules prohibit them from accepting cash gifts.
As a workaround, Perry’s reps said he worked through management, human resources and legal channels before returning to the airport and handing out gift cards instead.
However 11 Alive, an Atlanta-based NBC affiliate, reported that the airport’s federal security director raised concerns about the giveaway, citing sources that told the outlet workers were later contacted and told they must return the gift cards.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA, told The Post in a statement that the agency was following the rules by the books.
“TSA officers are prohibited from accepting gifts at screening locations. Even during a shutdown, cash or cash equivalents cannot be accepted on behalf of the agency,” a DHS spokesperson said, laying blame for the shutdown at the feet of recalcitrant Democrats.
“The effects of the Democrats’ Reckless DHS shutdown are hitting frontline officers hard—some are sleeping in their cars, selling blood to make ends meet, and struggling to pay rent. Democrats must re-open DHS now.”
The Post has reached out to Perry’s representatives and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for comment.