Senate Committee Approves DHS/TSA/CBP FY24 Funding Bill; Includes Report Language on Aviation Worker Screening

July 27, 2023

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved (24-4) its version of legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for the upcoming fiscal year that begins on October 1. Overall, the Senate bill provides $61.3 billion in discretionary appropriations for DHS and its component agencies, including $2 million in emergency funding. 

In terms of airport priorities, there is very good news to report. Notably, the Senate agreed to a manager's amendment that included critical report language about TSA's upcoming aviation worker screening requirement. The report urges the agency to delay implementation of the National Amendment for no less than one year and to reassess the amendment's implementation. The specific language is:

Aviation Worker Screening: The Committee recognizes TSA's authority to deter and detect threats to airport security. The Committee is concerned that the recently issued National Amendment on Aviation Worker Screening (TSA-NA-23-02) that requires airports to significantly increase airport-performed physical screening of employees and may be implemented in a manner that imposes undue burdens on airport operators. Further, the Committee is concerned that the National Amendment will be implemented prior to a thorough cost benefit analysis or risk assessment to justify the change. Furthermore, the National Amendment may place requirements on non-TSA security screeners that exceed their legal authority. The Committee urges TSA to delay the implementation of the National Amendment for no less than one year and to reassess the amendment's implementation, including through soliciting a formal round of notice and comment to examine the benefits to aviation security and the full financial and operational impacts of this proposal on airports.

This outcome reflects the outcry Senators heard from airports and AAAE about the costs and difficulty in implementing this requirement in a short time frame.   However, this language does not have the force of law so TSA can choose to abide by or ignore this guidance. 

Also, the Senate includes $1.1 billion as requested to align TSA's workforce pay with the rest of the federal government, retain staff, and reduce wait times for passengers as part of the effort that was initially funded in FY23 and implemented earlier this month. The summary document further explains that 'this initiative allows TSA to address recruiting and retention challenges while the agency works to respond to an increase in travel volume. Since the initiative was announced, TSA attrition is down nearly 50 percent compared to the beginning of fiscal year 2023, while hiring is up.' In comparison, the House only funds pay increases for TSA's Transportation Security Officers, not TSA's entire workforce.

For CBP, the bill includes funding to hire 700 additional CBP officers, 550 more than requested. These officers will be deployed to the nation's ports of entry, including airports, to reduce wait times for people and goods entering the United States. AAAE has been vigorously advocating for additional officers at airports in this spending bill. Unfortunately, the House bill only funds the 150 new officers requested in the budget. 

As previously reported, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY24 DHS/TSA/CBP spending bill in June. That bill has not yet been - and will not likely be - considered by the full House. Ultimately, leaders will need to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills, a task that will be exceedingly difficult. As we have repeatedly noted, the Democratically controlled Senate is moving to fund the federal government at the FY23 spending levels, in accordance with the debt ceiling deal approved earlier this spring. In contrast, House Republicans are funding the federal government at the FY22 level, which is $120 billion below the Senate, and are working aggressively to find additional government-wide cuts. 

We had hoped to provide additional details on the Senate bill, including whether or not the Committee was able to restore funding for TSA to continue to monitor exit lanes, carry on the LEO reimbursement grant program, and support state and local-led canine teams, instead of shifting those costs on to airports. However, the Committee has only made a summary of the bill available so far. We will provide an update as soon as possible once the Committee-passed bill and report are available