As the congressional impasse over funding for the Department of Homeland Security continues, thousands of Transportation Security Administration officers have been working without pay, leading many to resign or miss work. The reduced TSA work force has resulted in extremely long security lines at some of the busiest airports in the U.S. Last weekend, President Trump announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would be dispatched to airports to help. Our analysts rated media coverage about the situation in our Topic of the Week.

An article from Newsweek provides the most balanced and fact-based coverage from our content set. The article features comments from an anonymous former ICE official about Trump’s decision to send ICE to airports, a plan that the ICE agent called “misguided” and “reckless.” The article gives background information about the DHS funding impasse and includes reaction from both Trump administration officials and democratic lawmakers. Analysts found the article to be “simple fact reporting” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

Scoring slightly lower, an article from Daily Wire features an interview between CNN host Dana Bash and border czar Tom Homan. Homan details his plan for using ICE at airports and explains what ICE agents can and can’t do to help TSA operations. The article gives background about TSA funding and ends with a quote from President Trump blaming Democrats for the DHS shutdown. Analysts found the article to be “analysis” with a “skews right” bias.

An article from the OAN website focuses almost solely on President Trump’s reaction to the airport security delays and funding showdown. It includes quotes from several of Trump’s social media posts about the situation and a post from Elon Musk offering to pay the salaries of TSA workers until funding is restored. Because the article platforms Trump’s comments and his attacks on Democrats, analysts placed the article in the “opinion” category of reliability, with a “strong right” bias rating.

In a video from the Benny Johnson YouTube channel, the host blames Democrats for the airport security issues and says “true patriot” Elon Musk “saves the day” by offering to pay TSA worker salaries. Johnson says the offer is “the mark of somebody who’s like actually a good person.” He interviews TSA agents who were “in tears” when Johnson announced at the Tampa airport that their salaries would be paid by Musk. Johnson reads several X posts praising Musk for his offer. Because of the criticism of Democrats and praise of Musk, analysts rated the video as “opinion” with a “strong right” bias.

From the opposite side of the political spectrum, a video from the Belle of the Ranch YouTube channel and an article from Raw Story were rated as “opinion” with a “strong left” bias. In the video, the host blames GOP lawmakers for the funding lapse, saying it’s their fault that TSA workers aren’t getting paid. She describes the plight of TSA workers who she says were already struggling because of “rising inflation because of Trump tariffs” and higher gas prices because Trump started “an elective war that he can’t really justify.” “And all of this is because Republicans don’t want to let the rest of DHS get funded so they can use the livelihoods of American workers as leverage,” she concludes.

The Raw Story article has the same tone and begins with this headline: “TSA agents sell their blood for gas to get to work — where Trump isn’t paying them.” The article states that President Trump has been “forcing” TSA agents to go unpaid. It describes the hardships faced by the workers, some of whom are sleeping in their cars and selling their blood for gas money. Analysts noted that the article places the blame for the DHS budget impasse entirely on Trump’s shoulders.

If you’d like to follow along on our weekly Topic of the Week exercise, you can do so by visiting our website. New Topics of the Week are posted each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with those of our analysts. Learn more here.

Beth Heldebrandt is Director of Communications at Ad Fontes Media. She has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of journalism and public relations, and was an adjunct instructor of journalism for 17 years at Eastern Illinois University. Beth has a B.A. in journalism from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and an M.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University. She’s a mom and grandma, and enjoys traveling, puzzles and reading.