Overview
- - The 2027 request sets TSA funding at $11.7 billion and trims more than $1.5 billion, eliminating about 9,400 positions from the roughly 60,000-person agency.
- - Smaller airports would be required to use TSA-certified private screeners through the Screening Partnership Program, which the White House budget office estimates would save about $52 million.
- - The plan reduces front-line Transportation Security Officer staffing by 2,462 positions and about 4,351 FTEs and phases out TSA staffing of exit lanes as a cost measure, with officials projecting workforce savings of more than $500 million.
- - Even as it cuts staff, the budget funds new screening gear, including $225.9 million for CT scanners, $48.1 million to replace older systems, and $20 million for e-gates that automate ID checks.
- - Unions and security experts warn privatization could weaken safety and worsen turnover, as Congress prepares hearings later this month following weeks of unpaid work, resignations, and ICE deployments during the DHS funding lapse.