Dismantle the TSA: Shift to Privatized Airport Security Solutions

Here’s a pressing concern for the new appointees of Trump on the Homeland Security Advisory Council: eliminating the Transportation Security Administration’s airport security operations.

Recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated collective bargaining with the TSA agents’ union after the DHS revealed that a significant number of TSA employees are engaged in “full-time union tasks” rather than conducting passenger screenings, with 60% of the “underperformers” remaining employed.

However, as any traveler can attest, the challenges with TSA extend far beyond this issue: the entire security and screening system resembles a senseless spectacle.

With teams of underpaid staff screening millions of passengers daily, travelers face excruciatingly long lines, inconsistent and arbitrary regulations (Is shoe removal required today? Should laptops be out? It varies!) and numerous intrusive searches that yield little more than pocket lint.

Remove your belt, empty your water bottles, discard your aerosols, and submit to a random hand swab — it’s all just security theater, without any real purpose.

While TSA does manage to intercept thousands of firearms annually, including some in carry-on luggage, it evidently overlooks even more.

During covert tests in 2017, the DHS sent decoys through airport security with imitation weapons: TSA agents allegedly failed to detect 80% of the fakes — which is an improvement compared to two years prior, when 95% of the weapons went unnoticed.

This pattern has persisted since the agency’s inception.

What makes this more than just a make-work scheme?

Perhaps the best demonstration of the facade is the fact that for $78, you can avoid the most grueling parts of the process by enrolling in PreCheck — or pay $179 annually to bypass the lines with a service like Clear.

Everyone else is left worrying about missing their flights.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has been advocating for Congress to dismantle the TSA for years; his peers should take heed.

At the very least, the screening process should be privatized: this is already happening in 20 US airports, such as those in San Francisco and Orlando.

Initially created to provide a sense of security in the aftermath of 9/11, TSA is still operating in a haphazard manner due to the nature of government agencies.

America requires a system that is less invasive and burdensome — more efficient, capable, and pleasurable.