TSA bans sitting for passport checks at U.S. airports

Based on · First reported 1 Oct 2026

TSA officials are no longer allowed to sit while conducting passport checks at U.S. airports.
The policy change is said to strengthen security and hospitality, and the agency says all employees must meet serviceability requirements for national security; it has sparked a new conflict in the Trump administration’s handling of TSA staff, who recently went six weeks without pay after a spring government shutdown, and follows a proposal to cut 9,400 TSA positions and reduce the annual budget by $1.5 billion, about 20% of its funding.

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