By Ray Birch
BILOXI, Miss.—As the partial government shutdown limited to the Department of Homeland Security drags deeper into spring, Keesler Federal Credit Union is doing more than rolling out another emergency-relief program for unpaid federal workers—it is taking that help directly into the workplace, setting up in TSA break rooms at airports so frontline officers can enroll on the spot and keep reporting for duty without first navigating branch visits or paperwork hurdles.
For $5.1-billion Keesler Federal, that extra step is what turns a helpful program into a mission-driven response for workers who are still screening passengers and protecting coastlines even as paychecks remain frozen.
Joshua Brown, Keesler Federal’s COO, said the credit union activated its Paycheck Relief Program when the shutdown first hit late last year, then kept it going as the funding gap evolved into a more targeted DHS lapse that continues to hit TSA and Coast Guard personnel.
Under the program, affected members provide their three most recent pay stubs, Keesler Federal averages them and advances the full amount of the expected paycheck—not as a loan, Brown emphasized, but as an interest-free paycheck replacement that is repaid only after government funding resumes.
“There’s no strings attached,” Brown said. “All they have to do is have the validate employment utilizing their paystubs to prove they are qualified for the program, and then we advance that paycheck.”
The initial commitment is up to 90 days, after which the credit union will reassess if the shutdown continues.
What makes Keesler Federal’s response stand out, Brown said, is the credit union is not waiting for overwhelmed TSA workers to come find help. With airport lines lengthening and TSA absenteeism climbing nationally, Keesler Federal has sent teams directly into airports across its footprint—including in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama—to enroll officers in TSA break rooms and get relief flowing immediately.
“We’re going to the airport, we’re setting up in their break room and we’re signing TSA agents up immediately,” Brown said. “That removes the friction of having to either call us or come into a branch.”
Brown said the move is designed not only to ease financial stress for members, but to help keep officers on the job and support communities already dealing with longer waits and staffing strain. As of Saturday, the DHS shutdown had reached 36 days, with roughly 50,000 TSA officers still working without pay, nearly 10% calling out daily, and some airports seeing absentee rates as high as 40%.
The timing makes Keesler’s effort especially notable. This latest DHS-only shutdown began Feb. 14 after a brief earlier lapse and, at 36 days, it has surpassed the previous record for the longest federal shutdown in modern U.S. history. Some workers, Brown noted, have effectively been dealing with paycheck disruption in one form or another since late 2025.
Reports have increasingly warned there is no quick end in sight: Reuters said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned this week that if the impasse continues, smaller airports could soon face closures due to TSA staffing shortages, while Military.com reported in February that there were “no strong signals” of an immediate resolution and that the standoff could persist as broader immigration-policy negotiations remain stalled.
Brown said the human impact is what keeps Keesler Federal leaning in. He pointed to one newer TSA employee who had never experienced going without a paycheck for this long and was unsure how she would cover a mortgage, food and family basics.
“When we came on site and we were able to provide this assistance, it was so much relief,” Brown said. “That’s why we do it. That’s what we’re here to do.”
That mirrors the broader point Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak recently made in CUToday.info: Coast Guard members and TSA officers “don’t get to pause,” so increasingly, neither do the credit unions that serve them. Stverak also noted Keesler Federal advanced more than 5,000 paychecks totaling over $6 million during a previous shutdown, helping more than 1,700 families stay afloat—evidence that this year’s on-site airport outreach is not a one-off gesture, but an evolution of a model Keesler Federal has already proven can work.
For Keesler, Brown said, the effort is not about politics, and it is not even really about product design. It is about the credit union deciding that “people helping people” means meeting members where the strain is most immediate—even if that means walking into a TSA break room instead of waiting behind a branch counter.
“This is not a political statement from us,” Brown said. “This is just us being at the heart of who we are. We’re going to help the people who are in our communities and in our areas so that we can remove that financial hardship.”