Congress limits TSA's warrantless facial scanning of airport passengers

What it does

This bill restricts the Transportation Security Administration's use of facial recognition technology at airport security checkpoints. Passengers in trusted traveler programs can opt out of facial scanning; all other passengers must affirmatively consent before facial recognition is used. The TSA must delete facial images within 24 hours (or 90 days for testing), cannot share biometric data outside the agency, and is prohibited from using facial recognition for surveillance outside screening areas. The Government Accountability Office must report annually on the technology's effectiveness and bias.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a direct restriction on government surveillance authority—TSA loses the power to conduct warrantless facial recognition scanning of passengers. It is fundamentally a privacy-protective measure that restores citizen control over biometric data.

What the text implies

• Annual GAO bias audits (disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, sex) create a public record of facial recognition accuracy disparities, potentially exposing algorithmic discrimination that TSA might otherwise conceal.
• The 24-hour data deletion requirement may force TSA to redesign backend systems and audit trails, creating operational friction that could slow adoption of facial recognition expansion.
• Opt-out rights for trusted traveler program members create a two-tier system: enrolled passengers can refuse facial scanning; non-enrolled passengers must affirmatively consent each time, potentially discouraging use among less-informed travelers.
• The prohibition on 1:N matching (comparing live biometrics against TSA's entire database) is narrower than a complete ban—TSA retains 1:1 matching (document verification), which still enables real-time biometric capture and processing.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary travelers gain explicit privacy protections, mandatory consent rights, and limits on government biometric data collection and retention. The bill restricts government surveillance power without imposing new costs or obligations on citizens, and includes safeguards against discriminatory treatment for those who opt out.

Named in the bill

Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Government Accountability Office (GAO), Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, NEXUS, SENTRI

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats.

• May 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• May 8, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

8 lobbying clients named this bill on 10 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,292,526 in lobbying spend. A filing names 26 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 88% of bills with at least one filing.

Jeff Merkley, the sponsor, reported $514,925 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• 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
• American Fed of Government Employees AFL-CIO — $450,426 on 1 filing
• Southern Environmental Law Center — $200,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.