We Don't Need the TSA

We're 35+ days into the DHS shutdown. TSA officers are working without pay, calling out sick at 5× the normal rate, and quitting by the hundreds. And yet — planes are still flying. Nobody is less safe. The only thing that's changed is the inconvenience got worse, which says everything about what TSA actually provides.

Security theater by the numbers

The DHS's own Inspector General found that TSA screeners fail to detect weapons and explosives 80–95% of the time in covert testing. The agency has never stopped a single terrorist attack. It has, however, spent over $120 billion since 2001 groping grandmothers and confiscating shampoo.

Private screening works better

Before 9/11, private contractors handled airport security — with direct financial incentive to keep passengers safe and lines moving. Airports still using private screeners (like SFO) consistently outperform federal ones in detection rates and wait times. Competition drives innovation; government monopolies don't.

The hidden costs

• Billions in lost productivity from endless lines
• Thousands of excess highway deaths — people drive instead of fly short distances to avoid TSA, and driving is far deadlier
• ~60,000 federal employees who could be more productive in the private sector

The shutdown proves the point

The locked cockpit doors installed after 9/11 remain the single most effective security measure ever, and they cost almost nothing. Air marshals still fly. Airlines still have their own protocols. The chaos at airports isn't because we're less safe — it's because a bloated bureaucracy is sputtering.

Abolish TSA. Return screening to private companies under FAA standards. Redirect the ~$8–10 billion/year to actual intelligence work. End the indignity of treating every traveler like a suspect.

The best argument against the TSA is watching it fail in real time.