Kristi Noem’s comment comes days after she announced the TSA has lifted its mandate for travelers to remove their shoes at airport security checkpoints.
More changes could be coming to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), including on whether more liquids can be taken through airport security, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested on July 16.
“But I will tell you—I mean the liquids—I’m questioning. So that may be the next big announcement is what size your liquids need to be,” Noem told NewsNation in a live interview with The Hill published on July 16, referring to the amount of liquids people can transport through security in their carry-on bags. “We’re looking at our scanners.”
The TSA website says that you “are allowed to bring a quart-sized bag of liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes in your carry-on bag and through the checkpoint,” but are “limited to travel-sized containers that are 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less per item.”
Noem’s comment comes just days after she announced that the TSA has lifted its mandate for travelers to take off their shoes at security checkpoints.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary said that her office is “working with several different companies with technologies to give us competitive bids on what they actually do.”
She added that DHS is “working to see what we can do to make the traveling experience much better and more hospitable for individuals, but also still keep safety standards.”
“It is still a process that is protecting people who are traveling on our airlines. But it has to make sense. It has to actually do something to make you safer,” Noem told the outlet.
Noem did not elaborate on when the TSA might change its rules on liquids in carry-on bags or how much travelers would be able to carry.
This past week, Noem said that travelers no longer have to remove their shoes, a policy that was put in place about 20 years ago. She also said that the TSA plans to review how airport screenings can be simplified and expedited.
“It will be a much more streamlined process,” the secretary said.
Some travelers still may be asked to take off their footwear “if we think additional layers of screening are necessary,” she added.
