Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has taken decisive action by putting an end to a program that wasted $200 million a year while failing to prevent a single terrorist attack.
The specific program in question is the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) costly “Quiet Skies” surveillance program.
The Trump administration discovered that the Biden administration weaponized the program to target political opponents while giving special treatment to Democrat allies and elites.
Quiet Skies, which allowed federal air marshals to surveil American travelers deemed potential risks, was terminated after a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation revealed its political abuse.
Noem’s decision comes as part of President Donald Trump’s broader efforts to dismantle wasteful government programs that threaten Americans’ constitutional rights while providing no real security benefits.
“Failed to stop a SINGLE terrorist attack while costing US taxpayers roughly $200 million a year,” declared Noem in her announcement terminating the program.
“The program, under the guise of ‘national security,’ was used to target political opponents and benefit political allies of the Biden Administration,” she added.
The investigation found that under Joe Biden, the program maintained an “exclusion list” that included foreign royalty, political elites, professional athletes, and favored journalists who received special treatment at airports.
Meanwhile, Biden critics like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard found themselves targeted for surveillance after criticizing Kamala Harris.
Gabbard, who was temporarily placed on the list before her appointment to the US Intelligence Community, believes the surveillance was politically motivated:
“I think they were trying to intimidate me, but also, they were trying to really create this chilling effect, probably knowing that I wouldn’t stay silent about it and send a message out to people that if you go and criticize then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now going to be the Democratic nominee for president, you too, would face the consequences.”
The DHS investigation also uncovered that Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s husband, William Shaheen, received exemptions from surveillance after traveling with Lebanese-American attorney Celine Attalah, who was flagged as a “known or suspected terrorist.”
“They made it look as if Bill is with this type of terrorist and no one knows about. It’s me! Attorney Celine Attalah! Immigration attorney! I’m a good American citizen,” Attalah told reporters.
“I’m a law-abiding citizen, I don’t have any record. I don’t want it to happen to others. This shouldn’t happen to others,” she continued
The termination of Quiet Skies represents another promise kept by the Trump administration to drain the swamp.
DHS officials assured travelers that essential security functions would continue without the controversial program, ensuring both safety and privacy.
“The Trump Administration will return TSA to its true mission of being laser-focused on the safety and the security of the traveling public. This includes restoring the integrity, the privacy and the equal application of the law for all Americans,” Noem stated.
The decision has been celebrated by privacy advocates and conservatives who have long criticized the federal government’s domestic surveillance programs that have failed to stop actual threats to national security.
