TSA privatizes airport security at 14 sites through 2031, cutting federal jobs
H.R. 9391 — Reimbursable Screening Services Program Extension Act of 2026 · Filed by Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 23, 2026 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill extends the TSA's Reimbursable Screening Services Program from 2026 through 2031 and increases the number of airports that can participate from 8 to 14. The program allows airports to hire private screening contractors paid by the airport rather than TSA, giving airports more flexibility in security staffing while maintaining federal security standards.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to extend and expand a program that permits airports to contract private security screening rather than rely on TSA-employed screeners. This is a structural shift toward privatization of a federal security function, even though the program remains authorized and overseen by federal law.
What the text implies
- Expansion from 8 to 14 airports nearly doubles the number of checkpoints where private contractors—not federal TSA employees—perform primary security screening, potentially fragmenting training, accountability, and performance standards across the system.
- The bill does not specify performance metrics, safety benchmarks, or audit requirements for the expanded program, leaving quality assurance to existing regulatory language in 49 U.S.C. 44901 note (not quoted here).
- Private screening contractors may face different labor standards, wage scales, and turnover rates than TSA employees, potentially affecting screening consistency and security culture at expanded airports.
- Extension through 2031 locks in the privatization model for five additional years without requiring reauthorization debate, reducing congressional oversight of the program's performance or expansion.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens at participating airports may experience faster or more flexible screening under private contractors, but lose the guarantee of direct federal TSA employment and oversight at those checkpoints. The expansion to 14 airports increases the scope of this trade-off without establishing performance or safety benchmarks in the bill itself.
Who stands to gain
- private airport security contractors
- airports (reduced TSA staffing costs)
- airport operators and concessionaires
Named in the bill
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, Public Law 116–6, 49 U.S.C. 44901 note, participating airports
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, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4392-4393)”
- Jul 13, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Garbarino moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
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 $5,323,301 in lobbying spend. A filing names 35 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.
Andrew Garbarino, the sponsor, reported $1,954,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $24,500 of that came from 4 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
- American Fed of Government Employees AFL-CIO — $390,000 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 (715 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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