After New York Attack, Congress Wants TSA to Secure Amtrak, Buses
A bill pushing the agency to focus more on surface transport follows a critical report and an attempted bombing near a train station.
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer stands in the TSA pre-check area at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., on Aug. 19, 2015..
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is one of those federal agencies that tends to inspire intense reactions among the traveling public. It’s a bureaucracy that interacts with millions of passengers each day, requiring their shoes, jackets, laptops—and time.
Virtually all this occurs at airports, with about 80 percent of the agency’s $7.4 billion budget spent on aviation security. Only 2 percent of the TSA’s funding goes to surface transportation, according to a report by the Office of Inspector General earlier this month. Congress is looking to change that.