Transportation Security Administration

History and mission

The TSA was created largely in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which revealed weaknesses in existing airport security procedures. At the time, a myriad of private security companies managed air travel security under contract to individual airlines or groups of airlines that used a given airport or terminal facility. Proponents of placing the government in charge of airport security, including Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, argued that only a single federal agency could best protect passenger aviation.

Congress agreed, and authorized the creation of the TSA in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001. Bush nominated John Magaw as undersecretary of transportation for security on December 10, and he was confirmed by the Senate the following January. The agency was initially placed under the United States Department of Transportation but was moved to the Department of Homeland Security when that department was formed on March 9, 2003.

The new agency's effort to hire screeners to begin operating security checkpoints at airports represents a case of a large-scale staffing project completed over a short period. The only effort in U.S. history that came close to it was the testing of recruits for the armed forces in World War II. During the period from February to December 2002, 1.7 million applicants were assessed for 55,000 screening jobs.

Private screening did not disappear entirely under the TSA, which allows airports to opt-out of the federal screening and hire firms to do the job instead. Such firms must still get TSA approval under its Screening Partnership Program (SPP) and follow TSA procedures. Among the handful of U.S. airports with privately operated checkpoints are San Francisco International Airport, Kansas City International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport, Tupelo Regional Airport, Key West International Airport, and Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport.

However, the bulk of airport screening in the U.S. is done by the TSA's 46,661 (as of FY 2018) Transportation Security Officers (TSOs).

They examine passengers and their baggage, and perform other security duties within airports, including controlling entry and exit points, and monitoring the areas near their checkpoints.

Administration and organization

Leadership

When the TSA was part of the Department of Transportation, the head of the agency was referred to as the undersecretary of transportation for security. Following the move to the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003, the position was reclassified as the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.

There have been eight administrators and nine acting administrators in the TSA's 24-year history. Several have come to the job after previously serving as Coast Guard flag officers, including Loy, Neffenger, and Pekoske.

Following the passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which included a provision known as the TSA Modernization Act, the administrator's term was set as a five-year term retroactive to the start of current administrator David Pekoske's term. It also made the deputy administrator a politically appointed position.

Organizational structure

At the helm of the TSA is the administrator, who leads the organization's efforts in safeguarding the nation's airports, railways, seaports, and other critical transportation infrastructure. Assisting the administrator is a deputy administrator, whose role is to provide support and guidance in executing the agency's mission. In addition, the TSA benefits from the expertise and leadership of several deputy assistant administrators and other executive officers, who contribute their knowledge and skills to various aspects of the agency's operations. Together, this structured leadership team forms the backbone of the TSA, working collectively to uphold and enhance the security of the nation's transportation networks. The executive assistant administrator for law enforcement is also the executive director of the Federal Air Marshal Service.

Rank structure

Headquarters

Administrator of the TSA

Deputy Administrator

Chief of Staff

Assistant Administrator, Legislative Affairs

Assistant Administrator, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs

Executive Assistant Administrator, Law Enforcement

Assistant Administrator, Federal Air Marshal Service

Assistant Administrator, Investigations

Assistant Administrator, Security and Operations Management

Executive Assistant Administrator, Mission Support

Assistant Administrator, Contracting and Procurement

Assistant Administrator, Human Capital

Assistant Administrator, Facilities and Administration

Assistant Administrator, Inspections

Assistant Administrator, Training and Development

Executive Assistant Administrator, Security Operations

Assistant Administrator, Compliance

Assistant Administrator, Domestic Aviation Operations

Insignia

On September 11, 2018, the TSA adopted a new flag representing its core values and founding principles. The design features a white, graphically stylized American eagle sitting centrally located inside rings of red and white against a field of blue, with its dynamically feathered wings outstretched in a pose signifying protection, vigilance, and commitment. The eagle's wings, which break through the red and white containment rings, indicate freedom of movement. There are nine stars and 11 rays emanating out from the top of the eagle to reference September 11. There is also a representation of land (roads) and sea which is representative of the modes of transportation.

Operations

The center for operations is located at the Freedom Center in Herndon, Virginia, and was built in 2003.

Finances

For fiscal year 2020, the TSA had a budget of roughly $7.68 billion.

Part of the TSA budget comes from a $5.60 per-passenger fee, also known as the September 11 Security Fee, for each one-way air-travel trip originating in the United States, not to exceed $11.20 per round-trip. In 2020, this passenger fee totaled $2.4 billion or roughly 32% of the budget allocated by Congress that year.

Additionally, a small portion of TSA's budget comes from the loose change and small denomination cash left behind by travelers at airport security checkpoints, which TSA has been allowed to retain since 2005 under Section 44945 of title 49, United States Code. From FY 2008 through FY 2018, a total of $6,904,035.98 has been left behind, including a record $960,105.49 in FY 2018. In fiscal year 2019, $926,030.44 was unclaimed.

Employees

Among the types of TSA employees are:

Uniforms

In 2008, TSA officers began wearing new uniforms that have a royal blue duty shirt, dark blue (almost black) pants, and black belt. The first airport to introduce the new uniforms was Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Starting on September 11, 2008, all TSOs began wearing the new uniform. One stripe on the outer edge of each shoulder board denotes a TSO, two stripes a Lead TSO, and three a Supervisory TSO.

Officers are issued badges and shoulder boards after completing a trainee period including 3-week academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.

Personnel system and pay

The personnel system used by TSA was originally based on the FAA's personnel system.

Unlike a majority of the federal government, TSA employees are not on the General Schedule pay system. Instead, a pay band system with performance-based increases was used.

In June 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas issued a memorandum which directed the TSA Administrator among other items to pay employees "at a level that is no less than that of their counterparts on the General Schedule pay scale." It also directed that TSOs be offered expanded collective bargaining rights mirroring title 5 of the United States Code, and appeals of adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

In July 2023, a new pay system mirroring the General Schedule was introduced following appropriations made by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. For TSOs, the career ladder begins at the D band and progresses to F band. Lead TSOs and supervisory TSOs are at the F and G band levels. Career ladders are also being worked on for non-TSOs.

In 2011, former TSA Administrator John Pistole granted limited collective bargaining rights to Transportation Security Officers following a union election between two federal employee unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union. In May 2024, an expanded collective bargaining agreement with a 7-year term was signed between TSA and AFGE.

In February 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued a memorandum that cancelled the 2024 collective bargaining agreement. AFGE called it a "retaliatory action" for challenging President Donald Trump's mass layoffs of the federal workforce and vowed to fight it.

Incidents

On Friday, November 1, 2013, TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez, age 39, was shot and killed by a lone gunman at the Los Angeles International Airport. Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia, who was shot and wounded by law enforcement officers before being taken into custody. Ciancia was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a hand-written note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs". Hernandez was the first TSA officer to be killed in the line of duty.

On March 21, 2015, 63-year-old Richard White entered the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport armed with six Molotov cocktails, a gasoline lighter, and a machete. White began assaulting passengers and TSA officers by spraying them with a can of wasp killer, then started swinging his machete. A TSA agent blocked the machete with a piece of luggage, as White ran through a metal detector. A Jefferson Parish deputy sheriff shot and killed White as he was chasing a TSA officer with his machete.

The TSA continued working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, the TSA cumulatively had 4,978 federal employees test positive for COVID-19: 4,219 of those employees recovered, and 12 died as a result of the virus.

In January 2026, TSA head Ha Nguyen McNeill confirmed that the TSA was helping ICE "check against" passenger information.

Functions

Passenger and carry-on screening

The TSA checks passenger information like name, sex, and date of birth seventy-two hours before departure for any matches on the No Fly List or Selectee List. At the checkpoint, passengers 18 and older are required to show a valid ID to be processed by Credential Authentication Technology. This is used to match passenger information with their flight reservation and secure flight status without a boarding pass. Valid forms of identification include passports from the U.S. or a foreign government, state or tribal-issued photo identification, or military ID. Passengers that do not have ID are often still allowed to fly if their identity can be verified through alternate means satisfying a certificate of identity.

Passed by Congress in 2005, the Real ID Act established minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards and prohibits federal agencies, like TSA, from accepting licenses and identification cards for official purposes from states that do not meet these standards. Implementation has been deferred for two decades by DHS, and enforcement begun on May 7, 2025.

Federally recognized:

Driver's licenses, enhanced driver's licenses, or other photo identity cards issued by U.S. state or territorial Departments of Motor Vehicles.

Tribal photo identification issued by a tribe federally recognized by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs

Canadian provincial or territorial driver's licence, photo card or Indigenous Services Canada card

Passport issued by a recognized foreign country

Airline employee or flight crew ID

Security identification display area (SIDA) badge issued by the airport.

Federally issued:

Checked baggage

In order to be able to search passenger baggage for security screening, the TSA will cut or otherwise disable locks they cannot open themselves. The agency authorized two companies to create padlocks, lockable straps, and luggage with built-in locks that can be opened and relocked by tools and information supplied by the lock manufacturers to the TSA. These are Travel Sentry and Safe Skies. TSA agents sometimes cut these locks off instead of opening them, and TSA received over 3,500 complaints in 2011 about locks being tampered with. Travel journalist and National Geographic Traveler editor Christopher Elliott describes these locks as "useless" at protecting the goods within, whereas SmarterTravel wrote in early 2010 that the "jury is out on their effectiveness", while noting how easy they are to open.

In November 2014, The Washington Post inadvertently published a photograph of all seven of the TSA master keys in an article about TSA baggage handling. The photograph was later removed from the original article, but it still appears in some syndicated copies. In August 2015, this gained the attention of news sites. Using the photograph, security researchers and members of the public have been able to reproduce working copies of the master keys using 3D printing techniques. The incident has prompted discussion about the security implications of using master keys.

Non-airport regulation

While most known for their role in airports, the TSA is also responsible for other transportation related regulations, including those without passengers. For example, the TSA was responsible for setting up cybersecurity regulations after the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in May 2021. As of August 2022, they issued revised cybersecurity directives for oil and gas providers more focused on performance-based measures, following extensive input from federal regulators and private industry stakeholders.

Criticism and controversy

Effectiveness of screening procedures

Undercover operations to test the effectiveness of airport screening processes are routinely carried out by the TSA's Office of Investigations, TSA's red team, and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office. Some measures employed by the TSA have been accused of being ineffective and fostering a false sense of safety. This led security expert Bruce Schneier to coin the term security theater to describe those measures.

A 2004 report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General found that TSA officials had collaborated with Covenant Aviation Security (CAS) at San Francisco International Airport to alert screeners to undercover tests. From August 2003 until May 2004, precise descriptions of the undercover personnel were provided to the screeners. The handing out of descriptions was then stopped, but until January 2005 screeners were still alerted whenever undercover operations were being undertaken. When no wrongdoing on the part of CAS was found, the contract was extended for four years. Some CAS and TSA workers received disciplinary action, but none were fired.

A report on undercover operations conducted in October 2006 at Newark Liberty International Airport was leaked to the press. The screeners had failed 20 of 22 undercover security tests, missing numerous guns and bombs. The Government Accountability Office had previously pointed to repeated covert test failures by TSA personnel. Revealing the results of covert tests is against TSA policy, and the agency responded by initiating an internal probe to discover the source of the leak.

In July 2007, the Times Union of Albany, New York reported that TSA screeners at Albany International Airport failed multiple covert security tests conducted by the TSA. Among them was a failure to detect a fake bomb.

In December 2010, ABC News Houston reported in an article about a man who accidentally took a forgotten gun through airport security, that "the failure rate approaches 70 percent at some major airports".

In June 2011, TSA fired 36 screeners at the Honolulu airport for regularly allowing bags through without being inspected.

Sexual assaults

In April 2015, NBC Denver news ran a story on two related employees coordinating amongst themselves to falsely flag attractive passengers for groping. According to NBC, while the TSA fired the employees, it took steps to protect the identity of the employees, which NBC suggested was an effort to shield them from state prosecution. The state prosecutor eventually declined to charge the individuals, as none of the unknowingly groped passengers had come forward to complain. Following the incident, Time magazine ran a story quoting a former TSA employee, who claimed groping is business as usual.

In August 2015, a TSA agent was charged for sexually assaulting a Korean exchange student at New York LaGuardia Airport. After the woman complied with his order to go into the restroom for further screening, the agent assaulted her. TSA in a press release after firing the worker stated passengers should be aware it does not screen people after they pass through security — this despite TSA having dogs in secure areas sniffing luggage for contraband that would require a human inspection.

In 2021, former TSA agent Jonathan Lomeli was convicted of assault after an incident where he tricked a woman into showing her breasts under the guise of it being part of a security screening.

Smuggling drugs and weapons

In 2012, a number of people including TSA employees were arrested in Los Angeles Airport after they were found to be a part of a drug smuggling gang.

In 2021, a TSA employee was arrested at JFK Airport after she tried to smuggle guns through a metal detector.

Baggage theft

The TSA has been criticized for an increase in baggage theft after its inception. Reported thefts include both valuable and dangerous goods, such as laptops, jewelry, guns, and knives. Such thefts have raised concerns that the same access might allow bombs to be placed aboard aircraft.

In 2004, over 17,000 claims of baggage theft were reported. As of 2004, 60 screeners had been arrested for baggage theft, a number which had grown to 200 screeners by 2008. 11,700 theft and damage claims were reported to the TSA in 2009, a drop from 26,500 in 2004, which was attributed to the installation of cameras and conveyor belts in airports. A total of 25,016 thefts were reported over the five-year period from 2010 to 2014.

As of 2011, the TSA employed about 60,000 screeners in total (counting both baggage and passenger screening) and approximately 500 TSA agents had been fired or suspended for stealing from passenger luggage since the agency's creation in November 2001. The airports with the most reported thefts from 2010 to 2014 were John F. Kennedy International Airport, followed by Los Angeles International Airport and Orlando International Airport.

In 2008, an investigative report by WTAE in Pittsburgh discovered that despite over 400 reports of baggage theft, about half of which the TSA reimbursed passengers for, not a single arrest had been made. The TSA does not, as a matter of policy, share baggage theft reports with local police departments.

In September 2012, ABC News interviewed former TSA agent Pythias Brown, who admitted to stealing more than $800,000 worth of items during his employment with the agency. Brown stated that it was "very convenient to steal", and that poor morale within the agency led agents to steal from passengers.

In September 2023, NBC Miami ran a story regarding 3 TSA employees who were arrested for grand theft after being filmed on security cameras stealing cash and other goods from handbags.

The TSA has also been criticized for not responding properly to theft and failing to reimburse passengers for stolen goods. For example, between 2011 and 2012, passengers at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported $300,000 in property lost or damaged by the TSA. The agency only reimbursed $35,000 of those claims. Similar statistics were found at Jacksonville International Airport – passengers reported $22,000 worth of goods missing or damaged over the course of 15 months. The TSA only reimbursed $800 total of this amount.

Data security incidents

In 2007, an unencrypted computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers, bank data, and payroll information for about 100,000 employees was lost or stolen from TSA headquarters. Kip Hawley alerted TSA employees to the loss, and apologized for it. The agency asked the FBI to investigate. There were no reports that the data was later misused.

In 2007, Christopher Soghoian, a blogger and security researcher, said that a TSA website was collecting private passenger information in an unsecured manner, exposing passengers to identity theft. The website allowed passengers to dispute their inclusion on the No Fly List. The TSA fixed the website several days after the press picked up the story. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigated the matter, and said the website had operated insecurely for more than four months, during which more than 247 people had submitted personal information. The report said the TSA manager who awarded the contract for creating the website was a high-school friend and former employee of the owner of the firm that received the contract. It noted: Neither Desyne nor the Technical Lead on the traveler redress website have been sanctioned by TSA for their roles in the deployment of an insecure website. TSA continues to pay Desyne to host and maintain two major web-based information systems. TSA has taken no steps to discipline the Technical Lead, who still holds a senior program management position at TSA.

In December 2009, someone within the TSA posted a sensitive manual titled "Screening Management SOP" on secret airport screening guidelines to an obscure URL on the FedBizOpps website. The manual was taken down quickly, but the breach raised questions about whether security practices had been compromised. Five TSA employees were placed on administrative leave over the manual's publication, which, while redacted, had its redaction easily removed.

Other criticisms

Other common criticisms of the agency have also included assertions that TSA employees have slept on the job, bypassed security checks, and failed to use good judgment and common sense.

TSA agents are also accused and convicted of having mistreated passengers; having sexually harassed passengers; having used invasive screening procedures, including touching the genitals, along with those of children; misusing body scanners to ogle female passengers; having searched passengers or their belongings for items other than weapons or explosives; and having stolen from passengers.

The TSA fired 28 agents and suspended 15 others after an investigation determined they failed to scan checked baggage for explosives.

The TSA was also accused of having spent lavishly on events unrelated to airport security, having wasted money in hiring, and having had conflicts of interest.

The TSA was accused of having performed poorly at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration viewing areas, which left thousands of ticket holders excluded from the event in overcrowded conditions, while those who had arrived before the checkpoints were in place avoided screening altogether.

In 2013, dozens of TSA workers were fired or suspended for illegal gambling at Pittsburgh International Airport, and eight TSA workers were arrested in connection with stolen parking passes at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

A 2013 GAO report showed a 26% increase in misconduct among TSA employees between 2010 and 2012, from 2,691 cases to 3,408. Another GAO report said that there is no evidence that the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) behavioral detection program, with an annual budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, is effective.

A 2013 report by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's Office charged that TSA was using criminal investigators to do the job of lower-paid employees, wasting millions of dollars a year.

Public opinion

A CBS telephone poll of 1137 people published on November 15, 2010, found that 81% percent of those polled approved TSA's use of full-body scans. An ABC/Washington Post poll conducted by Langer Associates and released November 22, 2010, found that 64% of Americans favored the full-body X-ray scanners, but that 50% think the "enhanced" pat-downs go too far; 37% felt so strongly. Besides, the poll states opposition is lowest among those who fly less than once a year. A later poll by Zogby International found 61% of likely voters oppose the new measures by TSA. In 2012, a poll conducted by the Frequent Business Traveler organization found that 56% of frequent fliers were "not satisfied" with the job the TSA was doing. 57% rated the TSA as doing a "poor job," and 34% rated it "fair." Only 1% of those surveyed rated the agency's work as excellent. On the contrary, a 2018 Rasmussen Reports telephone poll of 1,000 Adult Americans found that 45% of respondents had an opinion of the TSA ranging from somewhat favorable to very favorable, while 39% had an unfavorable opinion.

Investigations of the TSA

In 2013, The Office of Inspector General published a report titled "TSA's Actions Insufficient to Address Inspector General Recommendations to Improve its Office of Inspection". The report touched upon several topics of misconduct but the main focus of the report was of the TSA criminal investigators who received a premium on their pay despite not meeting the minimum qualification to be eligible for this pay.

The TSA Office of Accountability Inspection Act of 2015 published by the Committee of Commerce, Science, and Transportation, was based on a report of an investigation that found issues with the TSA. The act also followed up the Office of Inspector General's 2013 report, mandating that the TSA should comply with Federal Regulation and correct the wage of the TSA's Criminal Investigators. Had no action been taken this misuse of funds was estimated to cost taxpayers, in a span of five years, $17 million.

In response, the TSA contracted a consulting firm to assist the TSA with the Office of Inspector General recommendations. However, the Office of Inspector Generals has found the TSA's response lacking as they have yet to fix a majority of the issues brought up in the report.

Calls for abolition

Numerous groups and figures have called for the abolition of the TSA in its current form by persons and groups which include Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. John Mica (R-FL), The Cato Institute, Downsize DC Foundation, FreedomWorks, and opinion columnists from Forbes, Fox News, National Review, USA Today, Vox, The Washington Examiner, and The Washington Post.

The TSA's critics frequently cite the agency as "ineffective, invasive, incompetent, inexcusably costly, or all four" as their reasons for seeking its abolition. Those seeking to abolish the TSA have cited the improved efficacy and cost of screening provided by qualified private companies in compliance with federal guidelines.