Eliminating Collective Bargaining at TSA Due to its Incompatibility with TSA’s National Security Mission

In this memorandum, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem purports to strip trip collective bargaining and union representation rights from roughly 47,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSO's) at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). DHS' first attempt — a memo issued in February 2025 — was halted by a federal judge who ruled that the move was likely retaliatory and arbitrary and capricious. This memo attempts to accomplish the same goals of terminating the collective bargaining agreement with the union American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and ceasing all dues deductions and grievance investigations — but it does so with additional justifications for the policies. The additional justifications include a calculation of official time costs, unscheduled absence rates, and claims that collective bargaining diverts resources, undermines mission focus, and degrades traveler experience.