WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has unveiled a sweeping plan to eliminate more than 9,400 positions from the Transportation Security Administration while slashing $1.5 billion from the agency’s budget, new federal documents reveal.
The proposal, announced Friday by President Donald Trump, would force smaller airports across the country to abandon TSA services in favor of private security companies as an initial phase toward fully privatizing the federal agency established following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Administration officials estimate this privatization move alone would eliminate over 4,500 TSA positions from the agency’s current workforce of 60,000 employees.
The remaining job cuts – approximately 4,800 additional positions – would come through what the TSA describes as operational improvements, including removing personnel from airport exit lane monitoring and eliminating what officials call duplicated roles within the organization.
