Review - S 5487 Introduced – TWICE Act

Last month, Sen Kennedy (R,LA) introduced S 5487, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Efficiency (TWICE) Act. The bill would require TSA to develop guidelines to improve returning [from incarceration] citizens’ access to the TWIC program. No new funding is authorized by the bill. 

The bill is similar in intent to HR 5109, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Efficiency Act, introduced by Rep Carter (D,LA) in September 2025. The House Homeland Security Committee held a business meeting on June 24th, 2026, that included consideration of the HR 5487. The bill was approved by a vote of 30 to 0. On September 16th, the House considered the bill under the suspension of the rule process and passed it on a voice vote. 

Moving Forward  

Kennedy is not a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there is not likely to be sufficient influence for this bill to be considered by that Committee. While I suspect that there would be some level of bipartisan support for this bill were it to be considered, I certainly do not think that there is sufficient time left in the schedule of the 119th Congress to see this bill move through the legislative process. The only way that this bill, or its House counterpart, will make it to the floor in the 119th session of the Senate will be under the unanimous consent process. I would expect an objection to such consideration by any one of several Republican Senators that would consider this to be ‘soft on crime’. 

Commentary  

As I mentioned when this bill was introduced, on September 16th, Laurie Thomas, an expert on all things Coast Guard, MTSA, and TWIC, left a comment on my blog post about the reporting of HR 5109: 

“Just my two cents but I think most facilities would prefer that the just-released establish a pattern of good behavior and compliance with legal norms before coming to work in a place whose risk posture requires a TWIC. Make HR 5109 make sense, please.” 

Nothing in the language of this bill would change the existing TWIC eligibility restrictions for convictions or incarceration for the serious offenses listed in §70105(c); no changes to that subsection have been proposed in this bill. It would simply require TSA to produce formal guidelines on how those restrictions would be applied in practice and what level of assistance TSA would have to provide personnel submitting appeals under 49 CFR 1515.7. Any changes to §1515.7 would have to go through the publish and comment process. 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, including additional commentary about reducing the time standards for interim disqualifying offenses – see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-5487-introduced-twice-act - subscription required.