TSA's Time Has Come
By Steve Smith
Published on March 27, 2026.
The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) has been criticized as the most ineffective agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency was founded in the wake of 9/11 and has been accused of failing to identify dangerous weapons in tests conducted by government auditors. A 2015 DHS investigation revealed that over 90 percent of these weapons were found over 90% of the time. Despite this, TSA reported that agents intercepted 6,678 firearms during 7.4 per million screenings in 2024. The agency employs 65,000 people, 50,000 of whom are screeners, higher than the total number of US Coast Guard active duty and reservists combined. However, the majority of the $11.6 billion fiscal-year 2026 TSA budget is spent on airport screening and the Federal Air Marshals.
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