As much as we don’t like TSA, they’re not getting paid right now. I wish they could accept tips

They'll get paid once the shutdown is over. \

In general though, tipping them would be really, really, really, really stupid.

Getting paid a month late won't help with late payment fees and such.

Anyone who works for the fed'l gov't (or state or municipal) & knows their pay is tied to budget authorizations, but doesn't take steps to ensure they have a sufficient rainy day fund in case the budget runs out, should probably look for other employment. This is not the first time something like this has happened & it won't be the last, so anyone who doesn't take steps now to plan for the future has no one to blame but themselves.

To answer the original question of tipping a TSA screener, absolutely not for far too many reasons to have to list out in a forum like this.

Tipping is also generally prohibited by policy and regulation, as well as actual law for US Federal employees performing official job functions.

I don't disagree but in years past, possibly currently, it was customary to give a small monetary gift to your letter carrier around Christmas. I suspect this practice is not as common these days. Yes, Postal workers are federal employees.

Yes, for sure it has long been customary, but it is still prohibited by postal regulation (as it is for all other executive branch employees) to accept cash or cash equivalency (anything that can easily be converted to cash). I think it is still common in many places.

You know it’s against the rules. You cannot give a tips to TSA. It’s not permitted! Please respect the rules. It could be illegally. If TSA are breaking the rules. They could be fired from their jobs. Don’t ask for tips! Don’t do it!

While I appreciate the sentiments and several local groups have helped our employees, tipping to a TSA Officer has to remain a city in China. They are really serious about it, and some of our... less scrupulous employees have been removed from the job pool over just this.

True, and while some bills will work with our folks, some of them wont. Of course,

While this is a good point of life for most of us that have been with the organization for a few years or more, many of the kids and newer employees have not had an opportunity to build up said fall backs. I and many like me are prepared enough to weather these types of life interruptions. For everyone like me, we have folks that came on just before the shutdown, and have been here the whole time - they have a really good familial support network. We also have some that have been on for a little under a year that had to walk and work Uber or some other hustle to make enough money to pay their bills and eat. It is unrealistic to expect newer employees to be as prepared and We had food banks and local support groups that have helped out, but that is primarily food.

Many places are offering interest free loans and some banks will work with people, but no employee willing to work for the federal government should be placed in a position where they have to work without their legally obligated renumeration. Especially when the people responsible for the appropriations continue to be paid without interruption.

I was a credit union employee during a previous government shutdown. We did everything legally possible to reduce the impact on our federal employlees. I think the efforts were well received and used by a pretty substantial number of our members.

The idea of a rainy day fund is sound but for lower income people hard to implement. I say pay yourself first but as soon as your old car breaks down that wisdom goes right out the window.

My counsel to credit union members I talked with was simple. Save 10% of income. If 10% isn't possible save something. Don't pay interest. Paying interest only makes other people rich. Now almost all of us will pay interest on homes and cars but finance for the shortest period possible and make extra payments when possible. If convincing is needed take look at the total interest paid when a loan is amortized. And don't get me started on credit card interest. Just stop throwing away money! Digging out of the hole you've dug is hard, no question, but disposable income will be greater after filling in the hole.

All sound advice. I am lucky enough to have a wife that cracks the whip on me, because I am horrible at managing money responsibly 😂.

I know that many of our... ahem... more seasoned employees are typically much better positioned to weather a shutdown. The "kids" are typically the ones that feel it the most, and if they have kids of their own? Doubly so. Even now, after the shutdown is "technically" over, we are still not going to get paid until around November 24th. Thats at least another week for families that are already hurting.

If you give a tip, could you be arrested for bribery?

Yes, one could.

But it is extremely unlikely.

Bribery (which basically includes gratuities) is a highly nuanced crime that requires intent to corruptly influence or induce an act (or lack of action). It would be very difficult to prove a pax gave a "normal" tip with those elements. Unless, of course, the size of the tip combined with whatever the pax was trying to get through the checkpoint, was significant.

Although the following are “gifts,” they may be accepted as exceptions to the gift rule:
.The above exceptions cannot be used in the following circumstances, however:
.An employee should consider declining otherwise permissible gifts where a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question the employee’s integrity or impartiality as a result of accepting the gift, considering relevant factors . . . .

https://www.justice.gov/jmd/gifts-and-entertainment