Sponsors (2)
The bill codifies free TSA PreCheck for federal law enforcement and their young children—providing concrete travel convenience and stable entitlement for that group—at the cost of added TSA administrative burden and perceptions of unfair preferential treatment for other travelers.
Federal law enforcement officers and their children under 12 receive free TSA PreCheck enrollment, reducing travel wait times and hassle for those families.
Federal employees (particularly law enforcement personnel) gain a statutory entitlement to free PreCheck, standardizing and stabilizing access across agencies rather than leaving it to agency discretion.
TSA must implement eligibility verification and process more fee-exempt enrollments, increasing administrative workload and potentially diverting resources from other security tasks.
Other travelers and taxpayers may view this as a preferential benefit for a specific employee group, raising fairness and civil‑liberties concerns since most travelers pay for PreCheck while this group receives it free.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes federal law enforcement officers and accompanying family members under 12 eligible for fee-free TSA PreCheck, subject to TSA rules.
Provides free, expedited TSA PreCheck screening for federal law enforcement officers and their accompanying family members under age 12 by amending federal aviation security law to create an explicit statutory entitlement, subject to TSA policies and procedures. It defines eligible officers by cross-reference to the federal definition of "federal law enforcement officer" and makes corresponding renumbering changes to existing subsections.
Official title: To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide eligibility for Federal law enforcement officers for certain expedited security screening, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 15, 2026 by John Henry Rutherford · Last progress May 15, 2026