by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:45 AM ET, Wed May 20, 2026
A major U.S. airlines advocacy group is heading to the U.S. House of Representatives today, Wednesday, May 20, to oppose a Trump Administration proposal that would private security screening at smaller airports nationwide, replacing Transportation Security Administration officers.
According to Reuters, which obtained written testimony from the event, Airlines for America’s CEO Chris Sununu will tell a committee that while private security is an option, ensuring it doesn’t become a mandatory program “is paramount to the U.S. aviation industry.”
Airlines for America is an aviation advocacy group that speaks on behalf of the major airlines in the United States, including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, as well as UPS and FedEx.
The proposal is the first step towards privatizing the agency since its creation after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Last month, President Trump proposed cutting over 9,400 workers and over $1.5 billion from the annual TSA budget.
The proposal would cut TSA jobs by 4,500 by replacing TSA at small airports around the country with private security. The TSA could cut another 4,800 jobs by “improving efficiency.” The TSA’s budget, through the proposal, would be reduced 20%.
The American Federal of Government Employees, which represents TSA officers, opposes the privatization due to safety concerns.
Trump fired TSA head David Pekoske, who’d been appointed by Trump during his first term in office and was nominated for a second term as head of TSA by Biden in 2022. This last week, Trump nominated David Cummins, senior vice president of Serco North America, which has been awarded millions in government military contracts, to replace him as head of TSA.
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