Kristi Noem presents $10K bonus checks for TSA officers at TPA

TAMPA - United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was in Tampa on Monday morning to present more than a dozen TSA workers with $10,000 bonus checks for working without pay during the government shutdown.

The backstory:

When the government was shut down from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, many TSA officers at Tampa International Airport and across the country continued to work without receiving their regular paychecks.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Government shutdown hits Tampa Bay area: Thousands of federal employees impacted

"It negatively impacted the lives of millions of Americans, including employees at the Transportation Security Administration, so today, we get the opportunity to do something different," Noem explained. "Now that the government is open and operating, these individuals continue to serve regardless of their situation and keep people safe even though they weren’t getting paid during the government shutdown. Despite those shameful partisan games, our TSA employees showed up every single day and went above and beyond to serve the American people."

Who got a $10K bonus check?

What we know:

The checks are going to the employees who were nominated for exemplary service by their supervisors and leadership.

"TSA officers who are being recognized with $10,000 bonus checks are being recognized for exemplary service," Noem stated. "They were nominated from their leadership teams. It goes up through the supervisors at TSA and were then recommended for those bonus checks. So it’s not just based on one factor or another. It’s for individuals who continued to show up, fulfilled their shifts and continued to do other things to help through the shutdown to help the entire team be successful."

Sixteen officers were given a $10K check at the press conference and Noem said that more will receive a bonus check.

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"I am so proud of them, and I am so proud of everyone in leadership who inspired them to do their jobs and do them well," Noem said. "Because of that hard work, I am here to present each of them and many, many more will receive $10K bonus checks for doing their jobs and doing it as an example to their fellow employees and colleagues."

The envelopes did not contain actual checks. Instead, Noem said the officers received an envelope with a piece of paper inside that stated the money will be in their direct deposit accounts on their next pay period.

What's next:

She added that there will be more checks in the future because the nominations for the bonus checks haven’t stopped.

"There may be more that get recommended and we will thank them for their service and let them know that the work that they do matters."