The union representing federal airport screeners filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Transportation Security Administration, demanding the release of government records about a program that would replace public officers with private security contractors.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents 47,000 Transportation Security Officers across 400 U.S. airports, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit claims TSA failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after ignoring a request submitted in May regarding the agency’s “GoldPlus” initiative.
According to court documents, the GoldPlus program aims to hand passenger screening and security technology operations over to private companies.
The union stated that the public first learned about the initiative when a TSA briefing flier was found at Orlando International Airport and leaked to news outlets earlier this year.
Records cited in the lawsuit show TSA began soliciting vendor information for the program in August 2025 and presented details at an industry conference in March 2026. The agency did not formally notify AFGE about GoldPlus until late July, when it disclosed plans to launch the program next year at airports in Tampa, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; and Des Moines, Iowa.
The lawsuit also states that Congress was not given full details about the program’s scope. During an April 16 House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified that privatization proposals involved only smaller regional airports. Court filings note that TSA had already been pitching the plan to larger international airports for months prior to the hearing.
A fiscal 2027 budget justification document for the agency outlines a 14% reduction in the TSA workforce—cutting roughly 8,400 positions out of 61,000—and redirects $477 million toward screener privatization.
“TSA has been keeping everyone in the dark about its privatization plans – TSA employees, members of Congress, airport authorities, and the flying public,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. “And it’s little wonder why – this privatization expansion is a major departure from the aviation security system established by Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Changes of this magnitude must not be made in the dark.”
AFGE submitted its FOIA request on May 11, asking for internal communications, vendor proposals, and planning records related to GoldPlus. Under federal law, agencies are required to respond to FOIA requests within 20 working days, a deadline that expired on June 9. The union received no documents or formal determination prior to filing the lawsuit.
“Congress passed FOIA precisely to thwart this kind of two-faced agency management,” said Kevin Bell of the Free Information Group, an attorney representing AFGE. “AFGE’s members and the public have a right to everything TSA has spent months lavishing its vendors with about lucrative contracts while keeping its sworn officers in the dark. A layer of Gold+ paint will not cover up the rust of privatization.”
The FOIA complaint follows a separate lawsuit AFGE filed against the Department of Homeland Security over a March 2025 move to eliminate collective bargaining rights for federal transportation security officers, an issue currently pending in federal court.
READ: Florida AG Subpoenas Fauci In Probe Over Pandemic Profits And Power
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
