Then he’s going to try and pull the lever of removing TSA agents from airports

Yes please and thank you!

Any airport in the US is effectively federal property because the TSA does security in all airports, the FAA controls most surface movement and all takeoffs and landings, and in International airports, the CBP controls the port of entry.

And I hate to break it to you but removing the TSA doesn’t mean we revert back to pre 9/11 days. Security at airports is still governed by the Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program which defines the screening requirements, but not necessarily who must complete them.

Trump will be under a lot of pressure from capital not to do this, I suspect, because it would absolutely crater tourism.

Assuming he TACOs, and dems hold strong (sob), I would be looking for one of two scenarios.

Most likely, airports revert to post 9/11-pre TSA setup. Same basic experience, and probably even the same people, but a different uniform. Remember Huntleigh? Argenbright? You may still see these logos on the arms of wheelchair pushers or janitorial staff, but for a long, long time, they operated the checkpoints too. Between maybe the late 80s and up until 9/11, there was still screening but it was much more lax. Basic screening was likely introduced after Pan Am flight 103, and while there were metal detectors and x-rays, anyone could go through, which is what made all the sappy last minute airport reunion scenes possible.

After 9/11, the AOSSP was updated again with much more stringent security requirements, but at first the screening was still done by those vendors - provided at least one specially trained airline representative Ground Security Coordinator was present at the checkpoint. I was a GSC once upon a time, and I don’t think the TSA took over all of the checkpoints until maybe 2005. Though I’m not still current on the AOSSP, I’m fairly certain all of the policy that would enable a complete reversion back to this model is still in place. Airlines at each airport would share the cost of the contract.

Back then, a bunch of Huntleigh Employees suddenly became TSA employees. We might see a bunch of TSA employees become Huntleigh employees.

Or potentially, Trump will split the difference and just make the TSA screeners ICE employees. That’s probably a LITTLE less likely to spook travelers, so it could be a face saving compromise, but more likely he will do something like the first option and spin it as cutting government bloat and a partnership with job creating business leaders.

We passed that point about a year ago afair..

CNN is owned by right wing corpos now. It’s compromised and has been for a while.

Why, it makes. Bag everyone going in and out of the country as illegals. Grind US's face into the ground, manufacture a crisis to make politicians cave in and fund DHS. Then, 50/50, take agents back or continue to deploy them into airports because no one can prevent it. Does it sound unlikely in March, 2026?

I think you've forgotten how xenophobic these assholes are.

They're gonna be stopping every second person at the scanners pulling their guns and hurling them off to some concentration camp

Yeah... I laughed when I saw this. Like, don't threaten us with a good time.

...i wonder if they won't wear masks? Everyone be sure to take lots of selfies in line.

Brownshirts

Always has been...

Sounds like you like body cavity searches?

You've seen what they do to people that let them know their opinion of ICE?

I'd have gone with "mouth-breathing stormtroopers" instead of "nurses", but yeah.

Nurses are extremely important

If the nurses were SS, yes

more like "we've run out of nurses, so we'll send in abbatoir workers to do the job"

Replacing TSA with paramilitary who have a history of murder, torture, rape, and sterilization would be worse, not better

They've going to continue being the Gestapo, just at the airport now.

Seriously.

There's still tourists who come to America thinking it's not a big deal need to get a wake up call that this is a shithole country.

You know they will just beat you, rape you, and maybe throw you in a cage for a year.

Most people won't do that, because they don't want to miss their flight, booked hotel, and loose their job

25th requires a 2/3 vote in Congress, so unless he is in a coma, it's not happening before the next Congressional term starts in January.

ICE got paid a 4 year budget upfront, which they are allowed to roll over. So they're not getting paid, they just have a reserve several times the size of their annual budget.

Oh man I'm the other way around, I just want to get on my flight. Last time the body scanner guy tried to ask me why I was opting out, and I told him to go ask on the internet. There's a severe power imbalance and if he wants to chat about it, then I expect him to decide I said the wrong thing.

Like, I get that most of them just need to pay rent. My issue with it is systemic, not personal. But there are some guys who are just looking for excuses to mess up your day. Why mess with them while I'm vulnerable and they're getting paid by the hour?

That's just TSA. I think a much higher percentage of ICE wants to go above and beyond while in costume.