The administrative state is a sprawling, often cold machine, and this week its gears have ground the American worker particularly hard. While the Supreme Court struck down billions in executive tariffs, creating a $166 billion refund pool for major retailers, the men and women who secure our airports are struggling to pay their bills. TSA officers, many of whom have gone weeks without full pay due to budget impasses, are being left in a state of 'limbo' even as their morale hits an all-time low.

It is a bitter pill to swallow: corporations like Apple are calculating $20 billion in tariff exposure and fashion brands are trading their refund claims like assets, while a TSA officer in Louisiana has to call family for a loan to keep the lights on. President Trump’s recent order to ensure DHS employees are paid is a welcome intervention, but the talk of privatizing TSA screening only adds to the anxiety of the 50,000 federal employees who protect our skies.

We believe in a border that is a perimeter of law, and that law must start with the dignity of those who guard it. A government that cannot pay its own security officers while it debates how to return billions to retail giants has its priorities inverted. The national covenant is not a financialized toll booth; it is a commitment to the people who serve the country. We must ensure that the 'windfalls' of trade policy reach the kitchen tables of the working class before they reach the balance sheets of the global elite.