Why it Matters
As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, Congress is preparing to take a hard look at whether the agency created in the attacks' aftermath has kept pace with the modern threat environment — or whether it has become a bureaucratic relic in need of a fundamental overhaul. The House Homeland Security Committee will convene a TSA modernization hearing on May 20, gathering industry perspectives on security and travel reforms at a moment when the Trump administration is simultaneously pushing to privatize airport screening and cut TSA funding by $52 million.
The stakes are concrete: hundreds of millions of dollars in passenger-paid security fees, the structure of the federal workforce screening roughly 2.5 million travelers daily, and the question of whether the post-9/11 security architecture still makes sense.
The Legislative Backdrop
One week before the hearing, House Homeland Security Republicans introduced the SAFEGUARDS Act — the Spending Aviation Fees for Equipment, Guaranteeing Upgraded and Advanced Risk Detection and Safety Act — which would end the diversion of the 9/11 Security Fee to non-security purposes. According to a Senate companion bill, more than $13 billion in collected fees have been diverted to non-security uses since 2014.
Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino framed the issue directly in the bill's rollout: "As we approach the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, travelers should be able to trust that when they pay this fee, their hard-earned money will be used to ensure an attack like that never happens again." Subcommittee Chairman Michael Guest added: "When passengers board a flight, they count on effective, modern, and efficient security systems."
American Airlines and U.S. Travel are among the industry groups cited as supporters of the legislation, signaling that the hearing's "industry perspectives" framing reflects genuine stakeholder alignment around redirecting fee revenue toward security upgrades.
A parallel bill, H.R. 7941, the Pay TSA Act of 2026, takes a similar approach: creating a dedicated Transportation Security Trust Fund that would lock the 9/11 Security Fee into TSA operations and prevent diversion. The bill counts committee member Ryan Mackenzie among its cosponsors.
On the workforce side, H.R. 2086, the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act, sponsored by Ranking Member Bennie Thompson and cosponsored by committee members including LaMonica McIver, Tim Kennedy, Garbarino, and Nick LaLota, would convert TSA employees from the agency's separate personnel system into the standard federal civil service, granting collective bargaining rights and stronger job protections. The bill's bipartisan cosponsor list reflects the degree to which TSA workforce conditions have become a cross-aisle concern.
At the other end of the spectrum, S. 1180, the Abolish TSA Act of 2025, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, would wind down the agency entirely within three years and transfer aviation security to private screening companies under FAA oversight.
The Administration's Role
The Trump administration's FY2027 budget proposal, released in early April, is the proximate driver of the hearing's urgency. The budget proposes cutting TSA funding by $52 million while requiring small airports to begin using private screeners through the Screening Partnership Program, which currently operates at roughly 20 airports. The budget simultaneously requests $225.9 million for Computed Tomography machines and $48.1 million to replace outdated screening systems.
Politico reported in April that the privatization push was "rattling some nerves," with the 9/11 anniversary casting a long shadow over the debate. The hearing gives committee members an opportunity to probe whether the administration's proposed combination of budget cuts and technology investment adds up to a coherent modernization strategy — or whether it creates new security gaps.
What Has Already Changed
The hearing arrives as the TSA is already mid-transformation. The agency rolled out its new TSA ConfirmID system on February 1, 2026, offering travelers without REAL ID-compliant documents a $45 paid pathway through screening. Full REAL ID enforcement took effect at the same time, ending years of extensions. New CT scanners are changing liquid rules at equipped checkpoints, and biometric portals are being deployed at select airports.
These changes represent the kind of technology-driven modernization that industry groups and committee members have long advocated. But they also raise questions about equity, cost, and implementation consistency that the hearing is positioned to examine.
A Forbes opinion piece published May 14 argued that the TSA's Screening Partnership Program, under which private screeners operate under federal standards, has been proven effective and should be expanded — a view that aligns with the administration's budget posture but sits in tension with the workforce protections sought in H.R. 2086.
The Hearing
The full House Homeland Security Committee convenes Wednesday, May 20 at 2:00 PM in 310 Cannon House Office Building. Garbarino chairs; Thompson serves as ranking member. Vice Chair Michael McCaul and Vice Ranking Member Julie Johnson round out committee leadership.
The hearing is structured around industry perspectives, suggesting witnesses will include aviation sector stakeholders, security technology companies, or travel industry representatives — though no witness list has been released. The framing of "industry perspectives" is notable given the administration's simultaneous push to expand private screening: industry voices on TSA modernization carry direct policy weight when the question of who does the screening is itself on the table.
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