Key Details of Trump’s Plan to Eliminate Thousands of TSA Positions

(SeaPRwire) –   During recent weeks when thousands of Transportation Security Administration employees were absent from work due to a congressional standoff that paused their paychecks, the public recognized the essential nature of a fully staffed TSA for seamless travel. However, new budget documents reveal that the Trump Administration aims to eliminate numerous TSA positions and substitute some with private labor to lower expenses.

According to a Department of Homeland Security budget justification document published on March 31, the White House has asked for $11.7 billion for the TSA in the upcoming fiscal year. This request entails cutting nearly 8,400 positions and approximately 9,400 full-time equivalents (FTEs).

These cuts involve eliminating 2,462 Transportation Security Officer (TSO) roles and 4,351 TSO FTEs. These officers, who serve as the front line at airports, handle passenger screening and searches. Additionally, the proposal seeks to reassign over 800 TSA posts currently staffing exit lanes, a move the White House claims will save roughly $97.3 million.

“Even with these reductions, TSA intends to keep all priority mission-critical roles to guarantee operational effectiveness and mission continuity,” the document stated.

To compensate for the workforce reductions, the White House’s budget proposal recommends privatizing security at smaller airports. It suggests mandating that airports enroll in the TSA’s Screening Partnership Program, which allows for the contracting of private companies to handle security screening.

The White House Office of Management and Budget notes that the roughly 20 airports currently utilizing this program “have shown savings compared to Federal screening operations.” Expanding the program’s use more broadly is projected to save $52 million, with the total budget proposal estimated to cut over $500 million from the TSA’s expenditures.

However, the White House’s budget proposal is not solely focused on cuts. It also asks for $225.9 million to purchase and install Computed Tomography machines to improve screening capabilities, along with $48.1 million to replace “outdated” screening systems. Furthermore, the budget seeks $20 million for e-Gates, described as technology that “will enable secure, accurate, and self-service identity matching, streamline ID checks, double passenger throughput, and reduce person-to-person interactions.”

Congress plans to conduct hearings on the White House’s budget proposal later this month, aiming to reach a final agreement before the conclusion of the 2026 fiscal year on September 30.

Opposition to privatization

President Donald Trump has frequently criticized the TSA for inefficiency and claims that it aids illegal immigration. Upon the start of his second term, Trump removed the agency’s head, and in May of the previous year, the White House suggested a $247 million budget reduction for the 2026 fiscal year.

“Despite consistent budget increases since its creation, TSA has repeatedly failed audits while enforcing intrusive screening measures that infringe upon Americans’ privacy and dignity,” the White House remarked at that time. It further alleged that during President Joe Biden’s tenure, the agency was “exploited to enable mass illegal migration by permitting undocumented migrants to fly into the country’s interior without proper verification.”

These recent initiatives follow the resignation of over 500 TSA workers—roughly 0.8% of the total workforce—in the wake of the February shutdown. Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were controversially deployed to assist with airport security, despite objections that they were unqualified for the role and ineffective in reducing wait times.

The plan to privatize airport security has raised further safety and security alarms. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents approximately 47,000 TSA officers, has contended that privatization undermines travel safety, neglects the well-being of security staff, and could lead to staffing deficits and high turnover.

The idea of privatizing the TSA originated from the conservative blueprint Project 2025, a document heavily influenced by Russell Vought, Trump’s current director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. That plan argued that the existing TSA model is “expensive and unwise because it makes TSA both the regulator and the entity responsible for screening operations.”

Critics counter that the TSA was established following the September 11, 2001, attacks to elevate security standards above those of the previous private system. Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of AFGE TSA Council 100, stated in an interview with NPR last month that the primary goal of private contractors is to “generate profit, rather than ensure passenger security.”