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

descriptions off, selected

captions settings, opens captions settings dialog

Subtitles (en), selected

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

End of dialog window.

Trending on The Hill - September 10, 2026

Trending on The Hill - September 10, 2026

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........

© The Hill