The Transportation Security Administration
Summary
Created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 and moved into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, TSA ran on a $10.64 billion FY2026 Operations and Support budget and 59,837 full-time staff to screen roughly 906.7 million travelers at U.S. airport checkpoints in 2025 -- about $11.73 per traveler screened -- intercepting 6,678 firearms at checkpoints in 2024, 94% of them loaded.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
screens travelers and their bags at airport checkpoints nationwide -- 906.7 million individuals in 2025, tallied from its own daily checkpoint counts⧉ -- and in 2024, the most recent year it has published a full breakdown, it screened 494 million checked bags and 2.1 billion carry-on bags, and intercepted 6,678 firearms at checkpoints, 94% of them loaded⧉. It also runs TSA PreCheck, which counted 20 million Known Traveler Number holders⧉ by the end of 2024.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress enacted $10,635,434,000 for TSA's Operations and Support account in fiscal 2026⧉ -- the account funding its screening workforce and day-to-day operations -- of which aviation security fees travelers already pay supply an estimated $3.03 billion, capping the general-fund share at $7,605,434,000⧉. 's own budget submission puts its FY2026 staffing at 59,837 full-time-equivalent employees⧉. Against 906.7 million travelers screened in 2025, that is $11.73 per traveler.
View data as table
| Operations & Support | 10,635.4 | day-to-day screening workforce and operations; includes ~$3.03B offset by aviation security fees |
|---|---|---|
| Procurement, Construction & Improvements | 330.2 | |
| Research & Development | 24 |
Why is it good for society?
The mechanism is direct: before existed, airlines contracted checkpoint screening out to private security firms loosely overseen by the , and screeners missed as many as 20 percent of dangerous test objects hidden in bags⧉, a record two presidential commissions criticized, driven partly by screener turnover "often above 100 percent a year at large airports and, in at least one recent instance, above 400 percent a year"⧉ under that system. 's federalized, directly employed workforce now intercepts thousands of firearms a year at checkpoints⧉ -- the kind of catch its predecessor could not reliably deliver.
- 's FY2026 enacted budget ($10.64B for Operations & Support, including an estimated $3.03B in traveler-paid aviation security fees) funds 59,837 full-time staff to screen roughly 906.7 million travelers a year -- about $11.73 per traveler, not a fee travelers are billed directly.
- intercepted 6,678 firearms at airport checkpoints in 2024 (94% loaded) -- a catch its pre-2001 predecessor, privately contracted screeners overseen by the , could not reliably deliver: those screeners missed up to 20% of dangerous test objects, amid turnover found 'often above 100 percent' a year at large airports.
Your handles.* Enroll in TSA PreCheck for expedited screening. Questions about checkpoint or checked-baggage screening go to the TSA Contact Center, 1-866-289-9673. Travelers with disabilities or medical needs can request assistance 72 hours ahead through TSA Cares, 1-855-787-2227.
Sources(7) ▾
- 107th Congress, hosted by the Transportation Security Administration, Aviation and Transportation Security Act, Public Law 107-71 (115 Stat. 597) (2001-11-19) — 's own hosted scan of the enacted Public Law 107-71 (Statutes at Large), Title I, creating the agency and codifying it at 49 U.S.C. 114 -- the founding statute. tsa.gov · original document
- Transportation Security Administration / Federal Register, govinfo.gov, Federal Register final rule, "Transportation Security Administration Transition to Department of Homeland Security; Technical Amendments Reflecting Organizational Changes" (68 FR 49508) (2003-08-19) — Official Federal Register record documenting that the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (section 403) directed 's transfer from to , effective March 1, 2003, and its headquarters move to Arlington/Springfield, Virginia. govinfo.gov · original document
- Transportation Security Administration, Media Room, TSA 2024 By the Numbers (2025-01-16) — 's own year-in-review infographic -- travelers screened, checked and carry-on bags screened, firearms intercepted, and PreCheck enrollment for calendar year 2024, the most recent year has published a full workload breakdown for. tsa.gov · original document
- Transportation Security Administration, 2025 TSA checkpoint travel numbers (2026) — 's own published table of daily individuals screened at checkpoints nationwide, all 365 days of calendar year 2025; this entry's 906,735,976 annual total is this author's sum of that table, captured in full via Wayback. tsa.gov · original document
- 119th Congress / Government Publishing Office, govinfo.gov, H.R. 7147, Homeland Security and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026 (enrolled), enacted as the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026, within Public Law 119-86 (2026-04-30) — The enrolled bill text of 's fiscal 2026 appropriation as enacted (Operations and Support; Procurement, Construction, and Improvements; Research and Development) -- the current law governing 's FY2026 budget authority. govinfo.gov · original document
- Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Fiscal Year 2027 Congressional Budget Justification (Budget Overview) (2026-04) — 's own FY2027 congressional budget justification, published before the FY2026 appropriations act was enacted -- its " 2026 Annualized CR" columns are 's own most recently published and position counts for fiscal 2026. dhs.gov · original document
- U.S. General Accounting Office, Aviation Security: Long-Standing Problems Impair Airport Screeners' Performance (GAO/RCED-00-75) (2000-06-28) — 's report to Senate Commerce Committee requesters on the pre-ATSA, airline-contracted screening system's performance -- the source for the counterfactual 's federalization replaced. gao.gov · original document
Comments
Always open. Logged-in readers can annotate paragraphs in place.
was created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act⧉, signed November 19, 2001 -- ten weeks after the September 11 attacks -- which made it "an administration of the Department of Transportation⧉." The Homeland Security Act of 2002 moved TSA into the newly created Department of Homeland Security effective March 1, 2003⧉, where it remains, headquartered in Springfield, Virginia.