Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on Friday called on federal aviation officials to immediately reverse a policy allowing airline passengers to keep their shoes on during airport security screenings, citing newly disclosed findings that the change may have created a significant security vulnerability.
Duckworth, the ranking member of the Senate subcommittee overseeing aviation, said the policy, implemented in July 2025 under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, was enacted without sufficient coordination and has since raised alarms within the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG).
In a letter to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) leadership, Duckworth said covert testing conducted by the OIG found that certain full-body scanners used at airport checkpoints are unable to effectively detect threats concealed in footwear.
The watchdog agency concluded that allowing passengers to keep their shoes on "created a new security vulnerability," according to Duckworth's letter.
The long-standing requirement for passengers to remove their shoes during screening was introduced after the 2001 attempted "shoe bomber" attack, in which a passenger hid explosives in his footwear.
Officials have long cited that incident as justification for stricter screening protocols.
Duckworth also criticized DHS for failing to act on the OIG's findings, which were flagged in an August 2025 "Seven-Day Letter" requiring urgent attention.
She said the department did not take timely corrective action and may have violated federal requirements mandating a response by set deadlines of such reports.
"Allowing a potentially catastrophic security deficiency to remain in place for seven months and counting betrays TSA's mission," Duckworth wrote, urging TSA to rescind the policy until corrective measures are implemented and independently verified.
The policy remains in effect even after President Donald Trump announced in March 2026 that Noem would be removed from her post. It is unclear whether DHS or TSA has taken steps to address the vulnerabilities identified in the audit.
Duckworth argued that the lack of action is especially concerning amid what DHS has described as a heightened threat environment in the United States.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.