TSA’s biometrics deployment will take 25 years, unless lawmakers end fee diversion, agency head tells Congress

The Transportation Security Administration will not be able to fully deploy its facial recognition technology to U.S. airports for another 25 years unless lawmakers end a fee diversion that would otherwise provide the agency with much-needed funding, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said on Wednesday. 

During a House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security hearing on TSA’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, Pekoske said the use of facial biometrics “increases performance in this critical first element of checkpoint screening,” but noted that the agency is not allocating enough financial resources to this effort. 

“At the rate of investment in the FY25 request, which is $9 million, our capital investment plan shows this project will be completed in 2049,” he said, adding that the agency can accelerate the technology’s deployment with more dedicated funding, since it already “has the vendors and processes in place” to complete the initiative by the end of this decade. 

TSA first began deploying facial recognition at airports in 2022 as an update to its Credential Authentication Technology, or CAT, devices. The technology compares real-time photos of travelers against their government-issued identifications. The facial biometrics have been rolled out at more than 80 airports, with the agency planning to deploy the technology at over 400. 

In his written testimony, Pekoske said the agency has deployed over 2,000 CAT machines, including 313 systems in FY23. This includes an unspecified number of “second generation, or CAT-2, upgrade kits that enable the use of mobile driver’s licenses and utilize optional facial recognition technology to match credentials to the passenger, while protecting their privacy.”

But Pekoske said faster deployment of its facial biometrics, as well as upgrades to its checkpoint x-ray technology, have been hindered by a lack of funding TSA should be receiving to maintain its operations. 

The 9/11 security fee, which was instituted in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, goes toward funding TSA’s security mission. While the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 raised the fee for travelers to $5.60 per one-way flight, it diverted one-third of the collected funds toward reducing the deficit.

“That $1.6 billion was intended for aviation security; it ought to go to aviation security,” Pekoske said about the amount that was diverted away from the TSA last fiscal year. 

Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., called the fee diversion “a bait and switch scam” but noted that the fiscal years 2024 appropriations bill directed that roughly one-third of the diverted funds return to the Department of Homeland Security, which has oversight over TSA. 

“It's a start and it's a step in the right direction, but it's surely not enough,” LaLota said. “The entire diversion must end and that revenue should only be utilized by the TSA.”

The diversion of security fee revenue is set to expire at the end of FY27. If Congress does not extend it beyond that point, Pekoske said TSA “could get the identity verification project done in 2033.” 

Although Pekoske and other TSA officials have touted the enhanced security benefits of facial recognition technology, some lawmakers and privacy advocates have voiced concern about the use of the tools. 

A bipartisan coalition of senators attempted to include an amendment in the recently passed Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that would have paused deployments of the technology at new airports while Congress reviewed the agency’s program, although the effort ultimately did not receive a vote.