Hearing Report: TSA Nominee Cummins Hearing Focused on Personnel, Privatization, and Technology

July 16, 2026

This morning, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a nomination hearing for David Cummins, who has been recommended to be the eighth TSA Administrator. Cummins has an extensive background in government contracting and public-private partnerships. He previously appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on June 17 as part of his nomination process.

Throughout the hearing, Cummins was pressed by Senators from both sides of the aisle about his priorities for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), employee morale, privatization efforts, and technology deployment. He also briefly discussed sanctuary cities and counter-UAS.

Shutdown Impacts on TSA Personnel: The recent federal government shutdowns and their impacts on TSA personnel were repeatedly raised by Senators. Cummins noted that TSA lost about 10 percent of its overall workforce, including about 1,300 Transportation Security Officers during last fall’s shutdown, an additional 1,100 plus in the February to May shutdown, and numerous senior leaders. Cummins acknowledged that morale at TSA is currently very low. Employees are feeling underappreciated and are concerned about another shutdown starting on October 1. He testified that it has been hard for TSA to backfill positions and he is concerned that attrition and callouts will pick up again with the prospect of another government shutdown, which could result in closing airport checkpoint lanes or airports entirely.

Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) predicted that another shutdown would occur this fall. Cummins urged the Committee to do “whatever is necessary” to keep TSA paid during any future shutdown and will support anything Congress can do, including the adoption of the bipartisan Keep America Flying Act, which would ensure that TSA employees and air traffic controllers get paid during future shutdowns. AAAE President and CEO Todd Hauptli has persistently called on Congress to enact this legislation.

Privatization: Cummins was also repeatedly pressed about TSA’s privatization proposals, including the budget request to require smaller airports to use private screeners, and the agency’s new Gold+ concept that marries private screeners with new technologies and maintenance contracts. Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) expressed concern about the proposals and questioned whether security would be compromised. Cummins stressed that TSA plans to “aggressively” pursue privatization proposals and argued that privatization protects screeners, noting that employees who worked for private companies were paid during the recent shutdown (note: this occurred because of the timing of the contracts and may not always be the case). In response to questions from a variety of Senators, he highlighted that current TSA employees can keep their jobs if privatization were to occur at an airport because they have the “right of first refusal”; at some locations, private screeners’ starting salary is higher than what TSA pays; and that collective bargaining agreements are also in place at some locations with private screeners.

Airports in Sanctuary Cities: Both Senators Kim and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) asked Cummins if he was ordered to pull TSA screeners from sanctuary city airports, similar to what DHS Secretary Mullin threatened to do with CBP officers earlier this year, whether Cummins would do so. Cummins responded that he was not aware of any near-term plans to do this. But if that were to occur, he would inform the Committee of this decision and most likely would place screeners from those impacted cities at nearby airports.

Technology: Cummins repeatedly affirmed his commitment to modernize aviation security and deploy technologies to stay ahead of emerging threats. He does not believe that TSA needs to “choose between a secure and efficient checkpoint and an elevated passenger experience”; TSA can do both. Beyond rolling out technologies faster, Cummins outlined his vision to take the “surprise” out of travel by informing travelers earlier about anticipated checkpoint wait times at airports (e.g., on their boarding pass and before departing for the airport).

C-UAS: Cummins briefly highlighted steps that TSA is taking to secure airports and the airspace from drones. He noted that TSA’s Federal Air Marshals, along with the FBI and state and local law enforcement, have intercepted more than 600 drones during FIFA World Cup games. He believes that TSA needs to make more investments at all airports to better address unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) safety and security issues and work with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop a responsible counter-UAS framework.

What’s Next?

The Committee plans to meet next Wednesday, July 22, to vote on several nominees, including David Cummins.

Additional Details:

Additional details or to watch the nomination hearing can be found on the Committee’s website.