President Donald Trump is asking Congress to begin the process of privatizing the Transportation Security Administration with the goal of ending government control over its funding and preventing shutdowns like the one which has caused record airport security wait times in recent weeks.
The White House’s 2027 budget proposal suggests that smaller airports be required to enroll in the TSA Screening Partnership Program, which allows facilities and airlines to contract with private companies to provide security under the same standard as TSA officers.
That would cut more than 8,000 TSA positions, including 2,400 transportation security officers, and save roughly $52 million, the White House estimates.
“The move would yield cost savings compared to Federal screening and begin reform of a troubled Federal agency,” the White House budget proposal states.
Some conservatives have pushed for the change, believing it will stop political battles from spilling over into airport security efficiency. But advocates for TSA cautioned that privatizing airport security could lead to breaches.
Each time the government shuts down, roughly 95 percent of TSA workers are forced to work without pay because they are considered essential national security employees. The longer a shutdown drags on, the more likely it is that employees call out of work or quit entirely because they need paychecks to survive.
In the last fiscal year, the government shut down three times. The ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which is currently at a record 53 days, has been one of the most impactful.
More than 500 TSA officers, in an approximately 60,000-person workforce, have quit since the shutdown began in February. Thousands more called out of work for temporary jobs to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. Some officers were donating blood to make extra cash while others were sleeping in their cars because they couldn’t afford gas to get to and from the airport.
By March, dwindling staff meant that some airport security wait times had exceeded four hours – a new record, according to TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill.
Despite pressure on Congress to fund DHS, it remains unfunded. Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to pay DHS employees, including TSA, in an attempt to return to some normalcy.
“Why give politicians the power to play games with the travel of our people?” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis asked in March while advocating for privatizing airport security.
Before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, airport security was handled by private firms that contracted with airlines using a particular terminal. Passengers only went through a metal detector and did not always need to show ID before boarding a flight.
TSA was introduced to implement more robust security in U.S. transportation systems.
Roughly 20 airports in the United States currently utilize the TSA Screening Partnership Program.
The Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based libertarian think-tank, has argued in favor of privatizing TSA since 2013. They renewed their argument in March, saying a private security structure “would insulate air travel from partisan battles in Washington and allow for greater efficiency and innovation.”
But the American Federation of Government Employees, the labor union that represents roughly 47,000 transportation security officers, said safety could be compromised because security contracts typically go to the lowest bidder.
“I would not personally want to fly if I knew the whole entire system was privatized, because it’s just not safe for the American people,” Johnny Jones, the secretary-treasurer of AFGE’s TSA said during a press call in March, according to Federal News Network.
“Whenever you put profit before people and security, because that’s all privatization is – the bottom line is for profit,” Jones added.
