At airports across the United States, travelers are languishing in abnormally long lines due to a congressional standoff over DHS funding, as the impasse has resulted in TSA agents going unpaid for 40 days. Now, new reporting suggests that the Trump administration may have failed TSA in another regard, and that it could be adding “serious vulnerabilities” to security processes.
In a classified audit of airport checkpoints last year, “red team” tests were conducted in which undercover investigators tried to pass simulated weapons and explosives through security screenings. They found that there were “significant” risks posed by the fact that some TSA full-body scanners cannot scan shoes. Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had recently ended the longstanding policy that required shoe removal during screenings, and it now appeared that she had “inadvertently created a new security vulnerability in the system.
While the inspector general submitted the report containing their concerns in November, five months later, TSA leadership says it has still not seen or applied its suggestions, even though Noem has previously given sworn testimony to Congress that “all of the recommendations” in the report had been implemented.
Further investigation has determined why the report never made it into the hands of TSA officials. In a “rare, extraordinary decision inside of DHS,” key points in the red team findings were elevated to Top Secret status, which restricted access to just 13 governmental figures. None of them were from TSA leadership.
What’s more, not only was TSA unable to implement the report, but when auditors repeatedly requested that DHS officials modify restrictions so they could engage with the agency directly, those requests were ignored.
According to Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, he made several attempts to address the matter, writing to Noem, “I respectfully request that you rescind the portion of your September 18, 2025 memorandum that limited dissemination… This step would allow OIG to engage with TSA, the operational component… responsible for implementing any corrective actions." But DHS did nothing.
This all suggests that TSA security processes were already lacking months before the DHS funding debacle. Now, 450 TSA officers have quit due to the lack of pay while scores of others call out sick. With airports already grappling with long lines, short staff, and disrupted screening processes — situations that heighten the risk of security gaps under any conditions — Noem’s false assertion that the report’s recommendations had been applied raises serious questions about safety.
