Filed Date: Dec. 11, 2025
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
This collective action is an attempt by a TSA agent who worked during the 2025 federal government shutdown to collect wages for the uncompensated work that he and similarly situated TSA agents performed.
On December 11, 2025, the Plaintiff - a TSA agent - brought this action against the United States of America in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The case was assigned to Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter. The plaintiff's complaint alleged that the federal government violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by withholding wages from TSA employees during the Fall 2025 government shutdown. The complaint contends that during the government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chose to pay Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, while refusing to compensate TSA agents. The plaintiff filed this case as a collective action, seeking class certification for a class of “All TSA employees who performed work during the 2025 federal government shutdown and received $0 wages on any regular payday for work performed during the shutdown.” On behalf of himself and the putative class, the plaintiff sought liquidated damages equal to unpaid minimum wages on every $0 payday during the shutdown.
This case was randomly reassigned to Judge Philip A. Brimmer on March 10, 2026. Then, on March 11, the case was referred to Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter for non-dispositive matters.
On April 6, 2026, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. While the original complaint focused exclusively on the 2025 federal government shutdown, the amended version incorporated claims stemming from the 2026 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown. The plaintiffs consequently expanded their proposed class definition to include employees who worked without pay during either or both of these specific shutdown periods. Furthermore, the amended complaint introduced new factual allegations regarding the government's ability to pay its employees. It specifically identified the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), enacted in July 2025, as a source of pre-existing appropriated funds that the administration eventually tapped into to pay TSA officers in late March 2026. The amended filing also referenced presidential memoranda from March and April 2026 that directed the use of these existing funds, using these events to argue that the government’s failure to pay on regular paydays was a discretionary choice rather than a legal constraint.
In light of the plaintiffs’ amended complaint, on April 7, 2026, the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the original complaint as moot.
This case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Sofia Yoder (4/13/2026)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72024992/parties/rodgers-v-united-states/
Brimmer, Philip A. (Colorado)
Neureiter, N. Reid (Colorado)
Guzman, Victoria Elizabeth (Colorado)
Hood, Alexander Neville (Colorado)
Prochazka, Julia M. (Colorado)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72024992/rodgers-v-united-states/
Last updated April 20, 2026, 3:23 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: Dec. 11, 2025
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A TSA agent who worked without compensation during the 2025 federal government shutdown.
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Pending
Defendants
Federal
The United States of America
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219
Other Dockets:
District of Colorado 1:25-cv-03971
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Relief Sought:
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General/Misc.:
Case Summary of Rodgers v. United States, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/47493/ (last updated 4/13/2026).