A House committee on Wednesday expressed bipartisan support for ensuring Transportation Security Administration officers receive pay during future government shutdowns and are equipped with the latest technology, as the Trump administration pushes to make airport screening a job for private contractors.
Hearing on TSA Modernization
Members of the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on ways to modernize the TSA nearly 25 years after it was created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. However, the morale of TSA officers who went without pay during three funding lapses since October 1, and whom the administration wants to replace at small U.S. airports, overshadowed discussions about better machines and reliable funding.
“Between the 2025 and 2026 shutdowns, transportation security officers endured a total of 119 days impacted by shutdown conditions,” said Republican Andrew Garbarino of New York, the committee’s chairman, in his opening remarks. “That means TSA officers spent roughly 40% of this fiscal year reporting to work without a paycheck while continuing to carry out one of the most important security missions in the federal government.”
Bipartisan Concerns Over Pay and Privatization
Several committee members noted that Congress has failed to pass any pending bills guaranteeing continued pay for TSA workers. Rep. Lou Correa, a California Democrat, suggested that if TSA workers don’t get paid during shutdowns, neither should lawmakers. Correa also criticized President Donald Trump's proposed budget, which would spend $477.3 million to have private companies take over airport screening at about 250 airports while cutting more than 4,500 TSA positions to save $529.3 million in compensation and benefits.
“Technology alone can’t replace the experienced people who make the security checkpoints work as they have for the past 25 years,” Correa said. “It's about pushing an antigovernment privatization ideology.”
Current Privatization Efforts
About 20 U.S. airports already staff their checkpoints through the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which currently allows airports to choose whether to opt in. Under Trump's proposed budget, smaller airports would be required to participate. The TSA this week also authorized contractors in its airport staffing program to acquire and maintain screening equipment, a function previously reserved for the government.
Witnesses at the hearing included Christopher Sununu, president and CEO of Airlines for America; Dallas Fort Worth International Airport CEO Chris McLaughlin; and American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley, whose union represents TSA workers. All three agreed that airports should retain the option to decide whether to employ private screeners.
“Ensuring SPP remains an option for airports and does not become a mandatory program is paramount to the U.S. aviation industry,” Sununu said.
Kelley strongly opposed the privatization plans. “I'm totally against the privatization of any airport,” he said. “You don't contract out the CIA, do you?”
After several Democrats argued that handing airport security to businesses would leave U.S. airspace more vulnerable, Garbarino interjected that “the very conservative cities of San Francisco, Seattle and Atlanta” all use private screeners, “so yeah, maybe it's not a Republican thing.”
