More than 200 employees of the Transportation Security Administration were fired this week as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping layoffs across the federal workforce.
The TSA on Thursday confirmed the terminations of 243 probationary workers who had been either hired or promoted within the year, citing “performance and conduct issues” with the employees during their trial period.
The TSA, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, has about 65,000 employees and is charged with protecting the nation’s transportation’s systems. That includes screening passengers and baggage at 450 airports across the country for security purposes.”Under President Trump’s leadership, TSA terminated personnel due to performance and conduct issues during their probationary period, a TSA spokesperson said in a statement. “The agency is actively working to implement the administration’s priorities in full cooperation with DHS to identify waste and to staff the mission essential positions that best fulfill DHS’ mission.”
The spokesperson said the terminated jobs span the entire agency and include front-line security officers, management, administrative and professional employees.
The TSA screened 904 million passengers in 2024, which was a record high and a 5% increase over 2023.
Probationary workers recently let go from other federal departments have disputed the “performance” language in their termination notices. Several have told USA TODAY they were never told of performance problems before their dismissals.
The TSA layoffs are in addition to nearly 400 support staff employees at the Federal Aviation Administration fired last weekend. The terminated FAA employees included environmental compliance workers, aeronautical information specialists and maintenance mechanics responsible for the upkeep of grounds, roads and facilities.
FAA technicians and aviation safety inspectors were exempt from the firings, as were air traffic controllers.TSA workers were excluded from taking part in a buyout program Trump offered to most federal workers for their immediate resignations. More than 75,000 federal employees accepted the buyouts.
