25 years after 9/11, airport security gets second look from Trump

The 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks falls as the Trump administration has scaled back expanded security measures put in place at airports across the nation to prevent terrorists from using planes against the U.S. ever again.

The hijacking of planes ushered in a new era of screenings, while even more restrictive measures were enacted on shoes and liquids that could be brought onto a plane in the wake of later foiled plots.

While those measures may have helped prevent another 9/11-like attack, the security constraints were also subjects of irritation for millions of travelers.

Under President Trump, the administration has reduced some of the restrictions, eliminating the requirement to remove shoes for screening and launching a pilot program to allow non-ticketed passengers to pass through security in some airports. They are also weighing whether to remove restrictions on liquid volumes for those with TSA PreCheck.

Jamil Jaffer, founder of the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, said advancements in screening technology have allowed agents at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to more deeply examine what’s in bags or could potentially be concealed on the body.

“There’s some things you can do that you couldn’t do in the past that technology allows you to get to. So that’s one reason you might be able to change the rules,” said Jaffer, who cited an “evolution in technology.”

“While one of those things may not be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back, it could be that if we do all these things simultaneously and we take our eye off the ball, it could be that a terrorist attack is successful.”

The anniversary comes as the threat picture facing the U.S. has shifted in some areas.

While the U.S. has concluded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched in the aftermath of 9/11, Trump has reinserted the U.S. into the Middle East, launching attacks in Iran.

At the same time, national security experts in recent years have repeatedly warned of the risk from lone wolf attacks, including those that may be inspired by foreign terrorist groups. Recent attacks have focused on facilities that do not have as much security as an airport.

Former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem was the first to dismantle a post-9/11 security screening, giving the order to end the requirement that passengers remove their shoes.

Though popular, the move set off alarm bells with DHS’s Office of Inspector General, which in a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal found that the full body scanners used across the country were not always able to see through shoes.

Noem faced backlash from Democrats in Congress who said she rushed the decision and failed to fully consult with TSA, but the move raised questions over whether she would lift other policies — like limitations on liquids.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the administration has rebuffed their efforts to conduct oversight over the change in the shoe policy, leaving uncertainty about the safety of that move and whether future policy changes will be rigorously evaluated.

“Reports indicate the Trump administration changed TSA’s shoe policy for political reasons, creating a completely unnecessary security gap, which is compounded by the increased threats from Trump’s unnecessary War in Iran,” Thompson said in a statement.

“The Trump administration continues to block congressional oversight of TSA’s shoe policy change and refuses to adjust it in light of reported vulnerabilities.”

Still, DHS is looking at other changes, albeit with the smaller population of passengers who use TSA PreCheck and therefore have already been vetted.

That includes the launch at just 13 airports of a program to allow those without tickets or travel plans to pass through security to accompany travelers.

Reports this week also indicated TSA might similarly allow PreCheck passengers to enter the airport with water, citing new technology that can distinguish water from other liquids.

Stewart Verdery, a former DHS official during the George W. Bush administration, said after 9/11 “we had to build basically a whole new security apparatus from scratch.”

“It was this one-size-fits-all set of rules for everybody … there was no differentiation of travelers at all; there was basically just everyone was treated as the same type of threat,” he said.

But that’s evolved with programs like Clear and PreCheck, which he called the system’s first effort at “risk differentiation.”

“It takes some political courage to turn off something that’s uniform and make it more risk-based, and that’s hard to get people — if they’re thinking of a zero-tolerance type of system — to do,” he said.

Americans’ tolerance for airport screenings has also been complex. On one hand, the public expects rigorous security, but they have also grumbled about having to remove their shoes or not being able to travel with preferred toiletries.

Verdery noted that TSA is expected to screen every passenger and find any potential threat — a standard of perfection not expected of any other DHS agency.

“Think of the Coast Guard. I mean, they’re not expected to find every drug boat, right? Or the border patrol is not expected to arrest every migrant. So, the zero tolerance is really only for TSA, which is an interesting conundrum for them to try to live under,” he said.

Verdery applauded making changes for the population that already has TSA PreCheck, noting that they have been vetted through government databases.

“The more risk differentiation we can build the system, the better. So the people that are going through PreCheck or going through Global Entry, those types of things — they ought to be treated differently. They’ve volunteered to be vetted every single day,” he said.

Jaffer said as the U.S. weighs its security risks, it cannot forget the broader terrorist network

“The most effective thing that we can do against terrorism, it’s probably not necessarily the passenger screening. It’s probably remaining on offense against terrorists overseas and hitting them where they build up their camps, where they’ve got training facilities, where they’re recruiting folks,” he said.

He noted that Iran remains a top sponsor of terrorist groups and that the adversary could weigh terrorist attacks as part of their strategy in the ongoing war.

“Terrorists still very much want to attack the United States. They still want to kill Americans. They still want to kill Western allies. They have not stopped. They’ve not stopped trying. They’ve not stopped planning,” he said.

“You have to realize that there is very much a desire on the part of the adversary to continue to come after us.”