Trump Admin to End TSA's 'Quiet Skies' Domestic Surveillance Program

The Trump administration is planning to discontinue the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) "Quiet Skies" domestic surveillance program, which has been criticized for tracking US citizens not suspected of any crimes.

The Details: The program, which began in 2010, identifies travelers who could present an elevated risk to aviation security using a variety of data, including facial recognition software and identification of suspicious travel patterns. However, it has also been scrutinized for its lack of transparency, with the criteria for being placed on or removed from the "Quiet Skies" list largely hidden from the public. The program has been linked to inconvenient and invasive searches for some Americans at US airports. The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the program was weaponized under the Biden administration and “since its existence, has failed to stop a SINGLE terrorist attack while costing US taxpayers roughly $200 million a year.”

For Context: The TSA's surveillance efforts drew criticism for it's inclusion of high-profile individuals, including Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who is now Trump's director of national intelligence. The circumstances that led to these individuals being monitored under Quiet Skies, as well as the process for removing someone from the list, have been a source of controversy and legal battles.

How The Media Covered It: CBS News (Lean Left bias) first broke the story and summarized the program. The Daily Caller (Right) emphasized specific cases where the program had been used controversially, such as the surveillance of Gabbard.

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