The White House snubs Elon Musk’s offer to cover TSA salaries as airport miseries hit record levels

The White House has rejected an offer from Elon Musk to personally fund TSA workers’ salaries during the partial government shutdown that has thrown airport security into chaos across the country, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson told Fortune. 

Musk floated the proposal publicly on March 21, posting on X that he wanted “to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country.” The post drew more than 91 million views.

“We greatly appreciate Elon’s generous offer,” Jackson wrote in an email to Fortune. “This would pose great legal challenges due to his involvement with federal government contracts.” 

Jackson also said that the fastest way to ensure TSA employees get paid would be for “Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security.”

Meanwhile the airport crisis deepens. The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday that wait times have hit the worst levels in the agency’s history, with some passengers waiting more than four and a half hours to clear security. Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told a House Homeland Security Committee hearing that TSA has lost more...