Transportation Security Administration News

The other day—after slogging through a check-in line at one of the nation’s busiest airports, dutifully removing my shoes and belt, and checking my bag and pockets for other potentially dangerous items (water and loose change)—I was pulled aside by a crack Transportation Security Administration agent so he could further investigate the contents of my…

In the 17 years since its inception, the Transportation Security Administration has managed to incorporate itself into the American way of life, both as a topic of news coverage and as a punch line for comedians. Now that an entire generation of Americans can’t remember the pre-TSA era, most people who fly can recall a…

In a recent test at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, the Transportation Security Administration failed to detect 94 percent of illicit items that actors smuggled through security screening that included fake explosives, weapons, and drugs. This egregious performance comes at the same time that the Department of Homeland Security is requiring international airports around the world…

This week, the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program expanded to include 11 new domestic and foreign airlines. With the inclusion of these airlines, the total number of airlines participating in the expedited security process has been brought to 30. The PreCheck program allows passengers to pass through security checkpoints while wearing their shoes, belts, and…

I have long been a believer that, in most cases, a private company will do a more effective and efficient job than any government agency charged with the same task. My recent travel experience solidified that belief. It all started out with a half-empty water bottle at Ronald Reagan National Airport just outside the District…

For anyone planning to fly this summer, there’s a good chance you will spend time waiting in a massive line. An estimated 231.1 million travelers are expected to fly U.S. airlines this summer, a 4 percent increase from last year’s high. Earlier this year, thousands of travelers missed flights after waiting more than three hours at…

Missed flights, long waits, and frustration boiling over: the summer travel season is upon us and the American people are fed up with one of the worst travel periods in recent memory. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and the head of the Transportation Security Administration, Peter Neffenger, are pleading for help from Congress—and…

Aviation officials described current affairs at the Transportation Security Administration at a House subcommittee hearing in a bleaker light than the organization’s head did the day before. After the Homeland Security Committee’s interrogation of TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger last Wednesday, top airline officials testified before the Transportation Security Subcommittee the next morning on the skyrocketing…

As security wait times reach all-time highs at airports across the country, the Transportation Security Administration administrator was brought before a House committee. TSA Administrator Peter V. Neffenger testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday morning to address his agency’s critics and propose solutions. Here are the highlights from “Long Lines, Short…

We’ve all had to awkwardly stand in line at airport security as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) herds hundreds of passengers to departure gates. Long lines only add to the already stressful event of flying. Our current airport security process has become a running joke (along with long waits at the DMV or the “simplicity” of doing…

Congress is considering giving the Department of Homeland Security the authority to move around some of its funds to the beleaguered Transportation Security Administration as lines at airports grow. While this redirection might be a short-term solution (and maybe not even that as it will take time to hire and train these screeners), it is…

Science tells us that water behaves very predictably: It follows the path of least resistance. Not surprisingly so do terrorist groups, and the Paris and Brussels attacks followed this trend. In both cases jihadists struck at lightly defended targets and, in the case of the Brussels airport, at a lightly defended portion of the airport,…

A new report from a government watchdog criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration for working with a Transportation Security Administration security screener to flag bags containing large sums of cash, which the drug agency could then take. According to the investigation from the Department of Justice’s inspector general released earlier this month, the TSA agent was registered…

Today the House will take up a short-term “patch” measure to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, which is set to dip below critical levels at the end of the month. The patch would keep the fund afloat through December by transferring $8.1 billion from the Treasury into the Highway Trust Fund. The measure is…