The agency received over 12,000 applications in less than two days, making the effort “wildly successful,” according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Avid players of video games have emerged as a target demographic for recruiters at a range of federal agencies, including the military and the Department of Homeland Security.

The Transportation Department is drawing bipartisan criticism for rewarding $10,000 bonuses to a small number of air traffic controllers and technicians while ignoring the vast majority of the workforce who went unpaid during the 43-day funding lapse.