×

US Senate confirms new TSA head as Trump pushes for private airport security

By Thomson Reuters Jul 30, 2026 | 2:58 PM

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday ​confirmed David Cummins, ‌a senior vice president of Serco, to head the Transportation ‌Security ​Administration ⁠as the Trump ⁠administration pushes to privatize screeners at smaller airports.

President Donald ​Trump in April proposed cutting ⁠more than ⁠9,400 workers and ​just over $1.5 billion, ​or about 20%, from ‌the annual budget of the 60,000-employee TSA that ⁠handles airport security operations.

He also proposed requiring smaller ⁠airports ‌to use private ⁠security, a ​move ‌that would cut ​the TSA ⁠payroll by more than 4,500 jobs.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark ​Porter)