NPR⁠84%

TSA's new 'Gold+' program looks to increase private security screening at airports ⁠49%

By Bill Chappell⁠0%

5/21/2026, 9:00:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 29 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Framing Effect, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 16.2% saturation with 116 hits. Analysis detected 1,282 faulty-reasoning hits from 715 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 49.9% and a BS Rank of ⁠49% (10,561 of 20,541 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 51.40% of the article peer group.

WASHINGTON — Federal officers handle security screening at all but a small fraction of U.S. airports, but the Trump administration is hoping to change that. 
Under the Transportation Security Administration's new program called TSA Gold+, private companies would play a much larger role in airport security than they have in decades. 
The TSA is set to host officials from airports and security contractors to an "industry day" at its Springfield, Va., headquarters on Thursday, as it looks to develop TSA Gold+, a public-private program that the agency calls "transformative." 
The agency is billing the program as an update to the Screening Partnership Program, or SPP, in which 20 U.S. airports currently use private security screeners rather than federal workers. 
"TSA Gold+ marks a significant evolution in the agency's approach to aviation security," a TSA spokesperson told NPR via an emailed statement. 
The agency says airports that opt into the program would be able to tailor security systems for their facility — and avoid the TSA staffing shortages that became a very public headache at airports during the recent government shutdown over Homeland Security funding. 
It also says the program would bring "the latest technology" such as AI tools to airport screening operations, to increase capacity and cut wait times, although the agency did not specify how those gains would be achieved. 
From the details shared so far, the equipment would be the contractors' responsibility — a departure from the current SPP system, in which TSA controls the equipment and oversees the security contract. 
The TSA says it would perform the oversight role it currently does. 
"Industry partners can manage equipment and introduce innovations, while travelers enjoy a smooth, predictable, and bespoke experience," the TSA said as it unveiled TSA Gold+. 
Airports currently using the private Screening Partnership Program range from San Francisco and Kansas City to Sarasota, Fla., and Atlantic City, N.J., along with smaller facilities in Montana, Wyoming and other states. 
Calls for privatizing airport security screening have come from President Trump and Republicans in Congress, echoing a recommendation in the conservatives' Project 2025 handbook for a second Trump term. 
But there are also signs of bipartisan interest in some level of private control over airport security, as seen in Atlanta, where city leaders recently voted to explore joining the Screening Partnership Program. 
Rep. 
Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, touted that bipartisan interest on Wednesday during a hearing on TSA Modernization. 
But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents TSA officers, said he opposes further privatization — including the TSA Gold+ program, warning that it would hamper accountability and transparency. 
Under the new program, Kelley said, contract workers would earn less than TSA officers. 
He added that while many transportation security officers hold security clearances, under the new plan, the government "would be ceding direct operational control of the most sensitive technology in the aviation security enterprise to private vendors." 
The White House budget released last month promises to save some $52 million by privatizing airport screeners and requiring small airports to enroll in the SPP. 
But officials at the hearing urged lawmakers to preserve airports' ability to choose. 
Chris McLaughlin, CEO of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, noted that the SPP has been in place since aviation security underwent drastic changes following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which led to the creation of the TSA and the SPP system. 
"We've had federalized screening for 25 years, almost," McLaughlin said. 
"Large airports like San Francisco have had an SPP program for 25 years." 
Both airports' arrangements work well for them, he told Garbarino. 
"The system has been safe for 25 years," he said. 
"It's important that airports have options." 
The new "Gold+" program echoes the Trump administration's promise to bring a "golden age of travel" to the American public. 
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy touted those plans earlier this week, as he unveiled $970 million in funding to improve passengers' experiences at airports, from adding family-friendly security screening lanes to improving restrooms and children's play areas. 
The money for those projects comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a Biden-era law aiming to update airports' aging infrastructure. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 9.4%Bill Chappell: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.4%Confirmation Bias9.4%This article: 3.6%Bill Chappell: 8.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.6%Anchoring Bias3.6%This article: 1.4%Bill Chappell: 6.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.8%Availability Heuristic1.4%This article: 4.5%Bill Chappell: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic4.5%This article: 1.4%Bill Chappell: 1.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.8%Hindsight Bias1.4%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 10.5%Bill Chappell: 27.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 11.1%Framing Effect10.5%This article: 6.9%Bill Chappell: 1.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Loss Aversion6.9%This article: 10.3%Bill Chappell: 5.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Status Quo Bias10.3%This article: 5.9%Bill Chappell: 0.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect5.9%This article: 14.1%Bill Chappell: 9.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.4%Optimism Bias14.1%This article: 10.5%Bill Chappell: 6.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%Pessimism Bias10.5%This article: 4.9%Bill Chappell: 19.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 11.3%Negativity Bias4.9%This article: 9.9%Bill Chappell: 5.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%Self-Serving Bias9.9%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 1.8%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 4.1%Bill Chappell: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias4.1%This article: 8.8%Bill Chappell: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Halo Effect8.8%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 1.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.7%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 1.8%Bill Chappell: 0.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.5%Primacy Effect1.8%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 3.1%Bill Chappell: 10.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 6.1%Appeal to Authority3.1%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.5%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.3%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 1.4%Bill Chappell: 1.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 4.4%Hasty Generalization1.4%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 1.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.7%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 14.0%Bill Chappell: 3.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 6.6%Appeal to Emotion14.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.9%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 6.0%Bill Chappell: 1.8%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)6.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 3.6%Bill Chappell: 0.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.4%Burden of Proof3.6%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 6.0%Bill Chappell: 5.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Anecdotal6.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 2.8%Bill Chappell: 1.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.5%Ambiguity (Equivocation)2.8%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.8%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Middle Ground0.8%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 4.1%Bill Chappell: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.5%Genetic Fallacy4.1%This article: 3.1%Bill Chappell: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.3%Unattributed Quote3.1%This article: 3.1%Bill Chappell: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.9%Quote-first Misdirection3.1%This article: 16.2%Bill Chappell: 1.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.1%Biased Writer Voice16.2%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.0%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bill Chappell: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 7.1%Bill Chappell: 0.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…7.1%

715 words analyzed.

Speakers

7speakers43%attributed speech405writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 38 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 0.0% coverageTSA spokesperson • 22 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 43 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 37 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageTSA • 25 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 32 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 29 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageAndrew Garbarino • 23 words • 0.0% coverageEverett Kelley • 35 words • 100.0% coverageEverett Kelley • 14 words • 0.0% coverageEverett Kelley • 36 words • 0.0% coverageWhite House budget • 26 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageChris McLaughlin • 42 words • 0.0% coverageChris McLaughlin • 10 words • 0.0% coverageChris McLaughlin • 13 words • 0.0% coverageChris McLaughlin • 10 words • 0.0% coverageChris McLaughlin • 10 words • 0.0% coverageChris McLaughlin • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageSean Duffy • 38 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Sean Duffy

100%flagged-word coverage
38 attributed words12% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Biased Writer Voice-20.0 ptsWriter: 20.0%Sean Duffy: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.