HR-7941-119
Referred to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security.
Sponsored by Nicholas Langworthy (R-NY)
What it does
This bill would create a Transportation Security Trust Fund within the Department of Homeland Security, funded exclusively by the existing 9/11 Security Fee collected from airline passengers. It would prohibit those fee revenues from being diverted to the general Treasury or used for deficit reduction — a practice currently permitted by law. It would also allow TSA to continue paying its workforce and maintaining operations during a government shutdown (lapse in appropriations), using trust fund money, with personnel costs prioritized over technology and infrastructure spending.
Who benefits
TSA employees (approximately 60,000 Transportation Security Officers and other personnel) who would continue receiving paychecks during government shutdowns. Airline passengers who would benefit from uninterrupted security screening. Commercial airlines and airports whose operations depend on continuous TSA staffing. Aviation-dependent businesses (tourism, freight, hospitality) that suffer economically when airport operations are disrupted. Travelers with time-sensitive needs (medical, business) who are most harmed by security checkpoint slowdowns or closures during shutdowns.
Who is hurt
The federal government's general fund would lose access to passenger security fee revenues currently diverted for deficit reduction — reducing a source of general revenue. Congress would lose some leverage over TSA operations that comes from the annual appropriations process. Taxpayers broadly, to the extent that deficit reduction is reduced. Competing federal priorities that currently benefit from diverted fee revenue. Potentially, oversight advocates who argue that the appropriations process provides an important check on agency spending.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that airline passengers already pay the 9/11 Security Fee specifically for aviation security, yet a portion of those revenues is legally diverted to deficit reduction rather than the purpose for which they were collected — a structural mismatch between fee intent and fee use. They contend that TSA shutdowns create real security vulnerabilities and economic disruption, pointing to the 2018-2019 partial government shutdown when TSA absenteeism spiked and checkpoint wait times grew significantly, and argue that a dedicated trust fund ensures the agency can fulfill its core public safety mission regardless of congressional budget impasses.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that removing fee revenues from the general fund and shielding TSA from the annual appropriations process weakens Congress's most powerful tool for oversight and accountability over the agency. They contend that allowing TSA to operate indefinitely during a lapse in appropriations — funded by a fee collected without annual congressional approval — bypasses the constitutional requirement that spending be authorized through the appropriations process, and that this precedent, if extended to other agencies, could significantly erode legislative branch control over the executive. They may also argue that deficit reduction is a legitimate use of surplus fee revenue.
Constitutional context
The Appropriations Clause (Art. I, §9, cl. 7) requires that money be drawn from the Treasury only pursuant to appropriations made by law, and Congress's power of the purse is a foundational check on the executive branch. By making trust fund money available "without further appropriation," this bill raises questions about whether Congress is effectively pre-authorizing indefinite executive spending outside the annual appropriations process — though Congress retains authority to modify or repeal the trust fund structure at any time.
Checks and balances
The executive branch (TSA/DHS) gains spending authority that operates independently of the annual appropriations cycle; the primary check is that Congress retains the power to amend or repeal the trust fund statute, and the bill caps shutdown-period spending at the prior year's rate of operations.
Historical precedent
The Highway Trust Fund (established 1956) and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (established 1970) are direct analogues — both dedicate specific user fees or taxes to transportation purposes and operate outside the annual discretionary appropriations process.