Sponsors
This bill clarifies and standardizes access to expedited air‑travel screening—promoting equal treatment and clearer agency authority—while raising privacy and fairness concerns from expanded program definitions and TSA discretion, and imposing modest administrative and operational trade‑offs.
All air travelers (taxpayers and the public) are treated equally because Members of Congress will no longer receive privileged or expedited security screening.
Travelers enrolled in Trusted Traveler programs (e.g., Global Entry, PreCheck) get clearer statutory recognition and definition, reducing ambiguity about who qualifies for expedited screening.
Federal agencies (including TSA) receive clearer legal direction and will update policies and report to Congress, which should reduce legal risk and improve implementation alignment with congressional intent.
Broad statutory language that includes any program issuing a unique identifier accepted by TSA could expand data-sharing and tracking of travelers, increasing privacy risks (including for immigrants and foreign nationals).
Preserving TSA discretion to run and define risk-based or expedited programs risks unequal access or extension of privileges without new congressional approval, allowing inconsistent or nontransparent treatment of travelers.
Members of Congress may face modestly longer screening delays for official travel, potentially complicating time-sensitive duties and constituent services.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 17, 2026 by John Cornyn · Last progress March 24, 2026
Prohibits the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from using its funds to give Members of Congress any expedited, preferential, or exempt treatment when passing through mandatory airport passenger and baggage screening. It keeps in place the TSA’s ability to run public risk-based programs (like PreCheck or Global Entry) and allows Members to participate in those programs only as ordinary members of the public. The TSA must update its policies and report to Congress on compliance within 180 days of enactment.