The acting head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Ha Nguyen McNeill, told lawmakers Wednesday that the agency wants expanded funding for security technology, and defended its efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for TSA employees.
McNeill, the TSA deputy administrator, told the House Homeland Security Committee that TSA wants Congress to accelerate the administration’s technology upgrades by expanding the Aviation Security Capital Fund and directing more passenger security fee revenue toward security improvements.
The passenger security fee, collected on each airfare ticket, funds the Aviation Security Capital Fund to pay for long-term aviation security investments. The fund has remained capped at the first $250 million collected in fees each year since it was established in 2004. An additional $1.6 billion in yearly revenue goes to deficit reduction, McNeill told lawmakers.
“If Congress were to return the funds collected to be used for its intended purpose, passenger security, and expand it to include checkpoint technology, TSA could significantly shorten its technology deployment timeframes,” McNeill said.
TSA wants to fund cutting-edge screening technology, identity verification, and modern IT infrastructure to support an improved checkpoint system, McNeill said.
While McNeill received supportive comments from Republicans, she fronted criticism from Democrats, who urged TSA to focus not only on technology improvements but also on its workforce.
“You focus more on investment in technology; I’d like to focus on trained personnel. Sounds like we’re cutting back in personnel and trying to focus more on technology,” Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., said about reported TSA staff reassignments to immigration enforcement agencies last year.
“Does that not concern you? You think you’re still okay doing your job of defending this great country against another hijacking attack?” Correa asked McNeill, who responded that “federal air marshals today are more agile than any time before.”
McNeill told lawmakers that “the only way that we’re going to be able to maintain our security posture and improve our security posture and deliver an increasingly improved passenger experience is through [a] combination of our human talent [and technology].”
“If you believe that [TSA employees’] work is so valuable, why are you seeking to make their jobs harder by getting rid of collective bargaining rights, which would help them with job security, safe working conditions, and ensuring accountability in the workplace,” Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., said.
Since March, TSA has twice tried to strip American Federation of Government Employees’ collective bargaining rights but was blocked by courts, Thanedar noted.
“The existence of a collective bargaining agreement is inconsistent with the mission that TSA has to perform and the agility with which we need to run this agency, and our employees know that,” McNeill responded.
Last March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning federal employees whose work includes aspects of national security from having collective bargaining agreements. However, multiple federal unions have sued the Trump administration over that order, arguing that most workers covered by it do not perform national security work.