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. 

HR 5109 Reported in House – TWIC for Felons

Yesterday, the House Homeland Security Committee reported HR 5109, a bill requiring TSA to “develop guidelines to improve returning [from incarceration] citizens’ access to the TWIC program.” A copy of the report is not currently available. The Committee held a business meeting on June 24th, 2026, that included consideration of the bill. The bill was approved by a vote of 30 to 0. 

The House is scheduled to consider the bill today under the suspension of the rules process. That process provides for limited floor debate; no amendments may be considered; and passage requires a super majority. 

Looking Back – 12-28-29 – TSDB and TWIC

Nearly every morning I start my computer time by looking at information from Google about what happened in my blog in the previous 24 hours. Google, and blogspot.com is a Google service, provides interesting pieces of analytical data about my blog readership. One item of particular interest is the top ten blog posts each day. As you would expect, most of those posts were from the last couple of days, but with 16 years of publishing this blog, every once-in-a-while, a blog post from ancient history rises into that list. 

Today a blog post from December 29th, 2009, Reader Comment – 12-28-09 – TSDB and MTSA, showed up on the list. This ended up being the middle post in a three-post discussion about how TWICS were supposed to keep terrorists out of critical infrastructure facilities. Those three posts were: 

TIDE vs TSDB,  

Reader Comment – 12-28-09 – TSDB and MTSA, and 

Reader Comment – 02-01-10 TSDB. 

While the three posts are over 15 years old, I see nothing in them that does not ring true today. 

Review - Bills Introduced – 11-5-25

Yesterday with just the Senate in Washington, and the House still on extended vacation, there were 13 bills introduced. One of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

S 3109 A bill to amend titles 46 and 49, United States Code, to require that individuals who commit human trafficking violations be permanently disqualified from obtaining certain licenses issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation, and for other purposes. Blackburn, Marsha [Sen.-R-TN]

 

For more information on these bills, including legislative history for similar bills in the 118^th Congress, including a mention in passing of adding political speech to special circumstances for the federal death penalty, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/bills-introduced-11-5-25 - subscription required.

Review – HR 5109 Introduced – Felons and TWIC

Earlier this month, Rep Carter (D,LA) introduced HR 5109, a bill requiring TSA to “develop guidelines to improve returning [from incarceration] citizens’ access to the TWIC program.” No new funding is authorized by the bill. No new funding is authorized.

This bill is essentially identical to HR 7223 that was introduced by Carter in February 2024. No action was taken on that bill in the 118th Congress.

Moving Forward

Carter is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see this bill considered in Committee. I suspect that there will be some ‘soft on crime’ opposition to this bill from many Republicans. Whether it will be sufficient to derail this bill in committee is not clear. While I suspect that there would be some level of bipartisan support for the measure, I do not think that it would be enough to allow consideration under the suspension of the rules process which requires a super majority for passage.

For more information on the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-5109-introduced-felons-and-twic - subscription required -

S 3959 Passed in House – TWIC-HME Applications

This afternoon the House took up  S 3959 [removed from paywall], the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act, under the suspension of the rules process. After nine minutes of debate, the House passed the bill by a voice vote. The legislation now goes to the President; Biden is expected to sign the bill, almost certainly before Christmas.

The bill would require the TSA to take actions (potentially including issuing an interim final rule) to streamline the procedures for individuals applying for or renewing enrollment in more than one TSA security threat assessment program, in particular, the TWIC and HAZMAT Endorsement programs. No new funding is authorized by the legislation.

Review - TSA Publishes 60-day ICR Notice for TWIC Registration

Today the Transportation Security Administration published a 60-day information collection request (ICR) extension notice in the Federal Register (89 FR 100518-100519) for the “Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC®) Program”. The notice Summary reports that “The collection involves the submission of biographic and biometric information that TSA uses to verify identity and conduct a security threat assessment (STA) for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Program, and a customer satisfaction survey.”

The table below compares the data provided in today’s notice and the currently approved ICR information.

Solicitation of Comments

TSA is soliciting public comments on this ICR notice. Comments may be emailed to TSAPRA@tsa.dhs.gov. Comments should be submitted by February 10^th, 2024.

 

For a more detailed look at the previous burden estimate, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/tsa-publishes-60-day-icr-notice-for-c34 - subscription required.

Review - HR 7223 Introduced – Felons and TWIC

Last month, Rep Carter (D,LA) introduced HR 7223, a bill requiring TSA to “develop guidelines to improve returning [from incarceration] citizens’ access to the TWIC program.” No new funding is authorized by the bill.

Moving Forward

Carter, and all three of his cosponsors {Rep Higgins (R,LA), Rep Thompson (D,MS), and Rep Goldman (D,NY)} are members of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see this bill considered in Committee. I suspect that there will be some ‘soft on crime’ opposition to this bill from some Republicans. Whether it will be sufficient to derail this bill in committee is not clear. While I suspect that there would be some level of bipartisan support for the measure, I am not sure if it would be enough to allow consideration under the suspension of the rules process which requires a super majority for passage.

Commentary

While there is apocryphal evidence that Islamic radicals, neo-Nazis and criminal gangs recruit in US prisons (all folks that we should probably be trying to exclude from the TWIC program), there is little hard evidence on the extent of such recruiting. Even so, it is probably true that prison authorities have a pretty good idea of which releasees are most likely to have been recruited. If that information were available to the TSA as part of their vetting process, the chance of large-scale infiltration of the port infrastructure via the TWIC process would be significantly reduced.

And let’s face it, folks getting out of prison that really want to turn their lives around need to be able to get a decent paying job quickly upon release. A TWIC card is pretty much a ticket to good jobs. The possession of a TWIC by a recently released felon will almost certainly be seen as a sign that someone thinks that that holder has demonstrated some sort of potential at rehabilitation.

 

For more information about the provisions of the bill, including a background look at crimes that are generally considered to prevent a TWIC approval and the waiver process that provides a way around that issue, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7223-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 2-5-24

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in Washington, there were 36 bills introduce. Three of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 7223 To require the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration of the United States to develop guidelines to improve returning citizens' access to the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program, to assist individuals in custody of Federal, State, and local prisons in pre-applying or preparing applications for Transportation Worker Identification Credential cards, and to assist individuals requesting an appeal or waiver of preliminary determination of ineligibility, and for other purposes. Carter, Troy [Rep.-D-LA-2] 

HR 7237 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program to construct barriers near rail lines that are adjacent to a residential structure, and for other purposes. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [Del.-D-DC-At Large]

HR 7241 To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to establish an emergency preparedness and response technical assistance program to assist entities that operate rural water or wastewater systems in preparing for and responding to natural or man-made disasters. Stauber, Pete [Rep.-R-MN-8]

I will be covering HR 7223. The perennial questions, does completion of a period of incarceration mean that the individual has adequately ‘paid’ for their crimes and should be encouraged and allowed to become a productive member of society? Lots of room for debate here. I do not expect to see that debate in the 118^th Congress.

I will be watching HR 7237 to see if these are derailment-protection barriers.

I will be watching HR 7241 for definitions or language that includes cybersecurity incidents within the scope of the proposed grant program. 

Review - HR 5840 Introduced – Streamlining TSA Threat Assessments

Last month, Rep Graves (R,LA) introduced HR 5840, the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act. The bill would require the TSA to take actions (potentially including issuing an interim final rule) to streamline the procedures for individuals applying for or renewing enrollment in more than one TSA security threat assessment program, in particular, the TWIC and HAZMAT Endorsement programs. No new funding is authorized by the legislation.

Moving Forward

Graves and two of his cosponsors {Rep Titus (D,NV) and Rep Green (R,TN)} are members of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I see nothing in this bill that would engender any organized opposition. I suspect that there would be sufficient bipartisan support for the bill for it to be considered on the floor of the House under the suspension of the rules process.

Commentary

TSA has already implemented some of the streamlining actions. If a TWIC applicant already has an HME (or a Free and Secure Trade card) they are eligible for a reduced fee TWIC ($93 vs $125.25) and the expiration of the two will be the same (the date for the earlier assessment).

 

For more information about the provisions of the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-5840-introduced - subscription required.

TSA Publishes HME/TWIC Fee Changes

Today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published a notice in the Federal Register (87 FR 66721-66723) for “Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) Threat Assessment Program  and Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Program Fees.” The new fees, effective today, are:

 

HME/TWIC Fees	Current	New
TWIC Online Renewal	$125.25	$117.25
TWIC In-person	$125.25	$125.25
TWIC Reduced Fee Program	$105.25	$93.00
TWIC Replacement	$60.00	$60.00
HME Enrollment	$67.00	$41.00
HME Renewal	$86.50	$86.50

Review - HR 6571 Introduced – TSA Enrollments

Last week Rep Smith (D,WA) introduced HR 6571, the TSA Security Threat Assessment Application Modernization Act. The bill would require TSA to standardize the enrollment and renewal processes for the TWIC, HAZMAT endorsement and the TSA PreCheck program. No funding is authorized by this bill.

Moving Forward

While Smith is not a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration, two of his cosponsors {Rep Katko (R,NY) and Rep Luria (D,VA)} are members of the Committee. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I suspect that the bill would receive bipartisan support. The bill would probably be considered under the suspension of the rules process if it were adopted in Committee.

Commentary

In early stages of these three TSA security threat assessment programs there were certainly problems that holders of one of the credentials had when applying for one of the other credentials. Those problems have been reduced in recent years. According to the TSA’s HAZMAT Endorsement web site, States are already authorized “to issue an HME on a state-issued CDL to a driver who holds a valid” TWIC. Similarly, TSA announced in 2020 that: “TWIC® and HME holders can obtain TSA PreCheck expedited screening by entering the identification numbers printed on their TWIC® card or state-issued CDL during the airline reservation process.”

All of this does not mean that there is a centralized location (real or virtual) where there is one stop shopping for all three credentials. One thing that this bill does not address is the fact that there are still eight states (Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) where CDL holders must apply at a State DMV office to apply for their HME.

For more details about this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-6571-introduced - subscription required.

TSA Announces COVID-19 Related TWIC Extensions

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published an announcement in today’s Federal Register (85 FR 21017-21018) concerning the “Exemption To Extend the Expiration Date of Certain Transportation Worker Identification Credentials”. The TSA is providing a 180-day extension of all current TWICs that expire between April 10^th, 2020 and July 31^st, 2020.

The notice does reaffirm that:

“For the duration of the exemption, TSA will continue to recurrently vet the holders of the eligible TWIC®s against governmental watch lists for security threat, criminal history, and immigration status. TSA retains its full authority to suspend or immediately revoke an individual's TWIC® if the agency determines the holder is no longer eligible, in accordance with 49 CFR 1572.5(b) and 1572.19(c).”

Additional information can be found here on the TSA TWIC web site. Thanks to Laurie Thomas for pointing out this site.

NOTE: Today’s notice is very similar in wording to the notice last week giving States the authority to provide a similar extension to holders of Hazardous Materials Endorsements for commercial drivers licenses.

HR 4552 Introduced – TWICs for Veterans

Last month Rep. Babin (R,TX) introduced HR 4552, the Honorably Discharged Transportation Worker Identification Credential Act of 2019. The bill would require DHS to establish a program for issuing honorably discharged veterans an interim Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) pending the normal processing of a TWIC application.

Requirements

The bill would amend 46 USC 70105 by adding a new subsection (r), Provisional Security Cards. The amendment would require DHS to establish provisional transportation security cards (PTSC). Such cards would “be used during the beginning on the date a covered veteran applies for a transportation security card issued under subsection (b) and ending on the date on which such card is issued or denied to such veteran” {new §70105(r)(1)}. The PTSC would “authorize such covered veterans to have access to secure areas in the same manner as transportation security cards issued under subsection (b)” {new §70105(r)(1)}.

A ‘covered veteran’ would be a person who {new §70105(r)(3)}:

• Served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released there from under honorable conditions; and

• During such service was subjected to a rigorous security screening

DHS would be allowed, in consultation with DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs, “prescribe a time period following discharge or separation from service in the Armed Forces during which an individual may be considered a covered veteran” {new §70105(r)(4)}.

Moving Forward

Babin is not a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that the bill is unlikely to be considered in Committee. I do not see anything in this bill which would engender any organized opposition to the bill if it were considered.

This bill could be offered as an amendment to a DHS spending bill or authorization bill (if either is actually considered with an amendment process this session).

Commentary

As a 15-year Army veteran I appreciate the thought behind this bill. Giving veterans assistance in their post service job search process is an admirable effort and should be encouraged. However, there are some serious problems with this rather simplistic bill.

First, providing someone a PTSC who has no chance of getting a TWIC is a sure recipe for creating a number of security issues at facilities where the possession of a TWIC is a prerequisite for unaccompanied access. There is a way to avoid most of these potential problems by requiring a covered veteran applicant to certify that their record contains none of the TWIC disqualifying offenses listed in §70105(c)(1). I would amend the bill by inserting a new paragraph (4):

(4) The Secretary will require applicants wishing to receive a PTSC to certify that they have none of the disqualifying actions described in (c)(1) in their record.

This will not eliminate all of the potential security issues, but it will significantly reduce them.

The remaining issues will have to be addressed by regulations and processes subsequently put in place by DHS. The immediate problem is whether or not the PTSC will include a biometric identification component or whether it would be just a visual inspection access control tool. If it does not include machine-readable biometric identification data then it will not provide access ‘in the same manner as transportation security cards issued under subsection (b)’. Providing for issuing a PTSC with machine-readable biometric data on demand at each TWIC application facility will be expensive.

This leads to the next problem overlooked by this bill. The Transportation Security Administration is currently required §70105(h) to charge each applicant for a TWIC a fee to cover the cost of processing the application. That should mean that veterans requesting a PTSC should be charged an additional fee for those credentials. Given the relatively small number of veterans that would be expected to apply for PTSC, this fee could be relatively high because of the additional equipment and training necessary to issue such documents. I think that this is counter to the intent of this bill, so I would further amend the bill by inserting a new paragraph (5):

(5) Notwithstanding the requirements of (h) in this section, the Secretary will not charge applicants any additional fees for the issuance of a PTSC.

Finally, there are no time requirements in the bill, either for initiation or termination of the program; or for feedback to Congress of the efficacy of the program. To address these issues, I would insert the following two paragraphs:

(6) The Secretary will begin issuing the PTSC described in (1) within one year of the passage of this bill. The PTSC program will terminate on the date five years from the passage of this bill.

(7) Within one year of start of issuance of PTSC, the Secretary will provide a report to Congress describing:

(A) The number of TWIC applicants who were issued a PTSC;

(B) The number of TWIC applicants who were provided a PTSC, but were subsequently denied a TWIC;

(C) The average length of time that individuals were required to rely on a PTSC for access under this section;

(D) The costs associated with the establishment and operation of the PTSC program and the fees that would have been required to be assed against applicants in the program for the first year to cover said costs;

(E) The fee which would be required going forward to be assessed for the issuance of a PTSC to cover costs of the continued operation of the program.