TSA Changes Will Likely Mean Longer Lines at Airports

The response to a damning report showing that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) misses most airport security threats will likely result in longer lines at the airport.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is requiring TSA to improve its system for security checks of travelers with more hand-wanding, increased use of bomb-sniffing dogs and more testing of travelers luggage for explosives, Politico is reporting. 

While testifying before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Johnson told lawmakers that Homeland Security is instituting 28 new rules for TSA workers. TSA has accepted 26 of those 28 recommendations, NBC News reported. 

The change comes after an inspector general report was leaked in early June, which found that DHS undercover investigators managed to smuggle through fake explosives and weapons at several airports around the country 95 percent of the time, according to ABC News. 

"In light of the 96 percent failure, they’re probably going to slow things down," House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul, Texas Republican, told Politico.

The Homeland Security secretary also said he is considering reducing the use of PreCheck lines for passengers at airports.

McCaul explained that "technology failure was a big part of the problem," but that one of the "big weaknesses" was also passengers who were being sent through PreCheck lines, which requires less scrutiny.

Business Travel Coalition Chairman Kevin Mitchell told Politico that as a result of the changes, "things are going to slow down, and consumers are going to get increasingly frustrated."

There are questions among lawmakers why the technology that is supposed to help expedite the security process at airports has failed so badly.

"If walking back allows us to identify more vulnerabilities, then that’s good. But what does that say for all the tens of millions of dollars that we've spent on technology that was supposed to move us forward?" said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

"It's clear that our technology that's being deployed — either because of the machines or the operators — failed us," Thompson added.

Johnson said that DHS is also looking at the performance standards of the screening technology. McCaul said the House Homeland Security Committee is also investigating how much of the failure is due to human error vs. faulty technology.

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