TSA waiver extended: checked bags skip U.S. screening on connecting flights
H.R. 9388 — One-Stop Pilot Program Extension Act · Filed by Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 23, 2026 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill extends a pilot program that allows passengers and checked baggage arriving on direct international flights from certain foreign airports to skip TSA re-screening when connecting to domestic flights, provided the baggage was screened abroad using approved explosives-detection systems, CBP has pre-cleared the baggage via advance imaging, and no security flags were raised. The program's authorization period is extended from six to ten years.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a procedural extension of an existing TSA/CBP coordination pilot that trades domestic re-screening for pre-clearance efficiency. It is neither deregulation nor a new mandate, but a continuation of a risk-management trade-off already in place.
What the text implies
- The bill does not define which foreign airports qualify as 'participating' — that discretion rests with TSA/CBP, creating potential for inconsistent security standards across different foreign jurisdictions.
- Reliance on CBP pre-clearance imaging and foreign-airport explosives detection shifts the security perimeter outward; if a foreign airport's screening is compromised or standards drift, TSA has no secondary checkpoint on the domestic leg.
- The extension from 6 to 10 years locks in this security model without requiring congressional re-authorization or public review of pilot-program outcomes — no data on false-negative rates, incidents, or comparative safety is presented.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Passengers benefit from faster connections and reduced screening delays on domestic legs, but the waiver of TSA re-screening creates a security trade-off: reliance on foreign airport screening standards and CBP pre-clearance in place of independent U.S. TSA inspection at the point of entry. The net civic effect depends on whether foreign screening and CBP imaging are as reliable as TSA re-screening — a factual question the bill does not address.
Who stands to gain
- airlines (reduced ground-handling time and passenger delays)
- airports (faster baggage-handling throughput)
Named in the bill
TSA (Transportation Security Administration), CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, 49 U.S.C. 44901, Public Law 117–263
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jun 23, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 23, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Homeland Security and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security”
- Jun 24, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jun 24, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 30 - 0”
- Jul 13, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4393)”
- Jul 13, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Garbarino moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill. (consideration: CR H4393-4394)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
9 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,998,301 in lobbying spend. A filing names 31 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 89% of bills with at least one filing.
Carlos Gimenez, the sponsor, reported $315,250 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $4,000 of that came from 3 PACs tied to these lobbying clients.
- Delta Air Lines Inc — $1,460,000 on 1 filing
- American Association of Airport Executives — $1,172,100 on 1 filing
- U.S. Travel Association — $800,000 on 1 filing
- Airports Council International -- North America — $775,201 on 1 filing
- Southwest Airlines — $360,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,813 characters) on Jul 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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