2026年3月25日 / 美国东部时间上午10:36 / CBS新闻
根据提供给众议院国土安全委员会工作人员并经CBS新闻审阅的内部沟通文件显示，国土安全部（DHS）的一份内部监察机构报告指出，美国运输安全管理局（TSA）在全国机场的安检工作中存在严重漏洞——而该机构在五个月后仍未作出回应。
由于国会未能批准国土安全部的资金，全国机场陷入混乱，TSA特工已连续40天无薪工作。
“红队”警告与现实风险
在一份机密监察长审计中，对机场安检点展开了”红队”测试——调查人员试图携带模拟武器或爆炸物绕过安检人员的秘密审计——调查人员对TSA安检程序中的漏洞提出了严重关切。
调查人员质疑，2025年一项受政治欢迎的政策变更（允许乘客在安检时不脱鞋）是否可能超出了检测鞋类中隐藏威胁的技术能力。
国土安全部高级监察长削弱Noem的宣誓证词
在之前的宣誓证词中，前国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）告诉议员们，监察长报告中的”所有建议”已全部落实。
但在3月4日致TSA领导层的备忘录中，监察长约瑟夫·库法里（Joseph Cuffari）明确表示，他的办公室没有任何书面或口头证据支持这一说法。
根据提供给众议院国土安全委员会工作人员并由CBS新闻获取的内部沟通文件，TSA尚未提交对审计报告的必要回应——距离报告发布已近五个月。
事实上，审计人员表示，他们甚至仍在等待监督过程中最基本的步骤：一份正式的”管理决定”，概述TSA是否同意调查结果以及计划采取何种纠正措施。
若无此文件，按照官方说法，这些建议仍处于”未解决且未决”状态。
一份TSA无法查看的报告
这一问题的根源可追溯至国土安全部内部一个罕见的特殊决定。
根据监察长的通信，TSA红队测试的一个关键发现被提升为最高机密级别，严格限制分发范围，仅允许政府内部13人接触。
在直接发送给诺姆的信件中，库法里称，该部门提供了一份由国土安全部部长亲自指定的13人窄名单，其中仅包括”三名国会议员；两名监察长办公室员工；七名国土安全部员工；以及一名总统行政办公室员工”。库法里在给诺姆的信中补充道，该部门还规定”任何进一步的分发都必须得到您的书面许可”。
值得注意的是，TSA领导层不在此名单中。
结果与监督的初衷背道而驰：审计人员已发现问题，但负责解决问题的机构却在五个多月内被限制接触或正式处理调查结果。
审计人员多次要求国土安全部领导层解除或修改这些限制，以便他们能直接与负责解决问题的机构沟通。根据CBS新闻获取的通信内容，这些请求均未得到回应。
甚至国会也间接受影响：由于同样的限制，库法里指出，监察长办公室无法与议员讨论审计的实质内容，除非是预先批准的小范围成员。
多次请求，仍无回应
根据联邦法律和国土安全部政策，各机构必须在90天内发布”管理决定”，概述是否同意调查结果以及将采取何种纠正措施。根据CBS新闻获取的文件，这一流程甚至尚未启动。
“我写信告知您，尽管我们多次向部长和您请求提供相关信息，但监察长办公室尚未收到国土安全部或TSA提供的此类信息（书面或口头），”库法里在3月4日致TSA代理局长哈·阮·麦克尼尔（Ha Nguyen McNeill）的备忘录中写道。”请立即提供描述该部门和/或TSA对每项建议采取的任何行动的文件原件及任何支持证据。”
在2月致TSA领导层的另一封信中，库法里警告称回应已逾期，指出由于国土安全部实施的”仅限13人”的最高机密限制，他的办公室”自2025年9月18日起无法实质性地与TSA就该项目进行接触”。
库法里敦促部长解决这一问题，写道：”我恭敬地请求您撤销2025年9月18日备忘录中限制信息传播的部分内容。这一步骤将使监察长办公室能够与TSA（负责实施任何纠正措施的运营部门）进行接触。”但据库法里称，国土安全部并未这么做，也未履行基本的程序义务。
一个未能回应的系统
到3月初，这种脱节已变得更加严重。与众议院国土安全委员会成员分享的文件记录了多次试图填补沟通缺口的努力，这些缺口警示了国家安全影响。
12月、2月和3月又发了信件，要求基本合规：书面回应、支持性文件、任何表明建议已得到处理的迹象。但均未得到答复。
甚至更早的截止日期也被忽略：根据库法里的说法，国土安全部在最终报告于2025年11月1日发布前未提交对报告草案的技术评论，也未在最终报告发布后提供必要的管理回应。
TSA已承受压力
TSA官员表示，自最新的国土安全部资金中断开始以来，已有超过450名TSA官员离职，而随着停摆进入第六周，一线安检人员的缺勤率已攀升至两位数。机场已面临更长的排队时间、更薄的人员配置和不均衡的安检操作——这些情况放大了任何未解决安全漏洞的潜在后果。在这种背景下，未能正式处理和回应已识别的安全漏洞，引发了一个更根本的问题：该系统能否同时承受政治和运营压力。
负责监督国土安全部运作并有权强制要求作证和提供文件的众议院国土安全委员会，现在面临一个核心问责机制似乎完全停滞的局面。
这一披露发生在一场高风险听证会前夕，TSA代理局长将于明天在一个以国土安全部停摆为中心的小组委员会上向议员作证。
新上任的国土安全部部长马克韦恩·穆林（Markwayne Mullin）于周二宣誓就职，他与寻求调查的国会工作人员和议员的互动可能会有所不同——不仅要了解TSA审计发现了什么，还要了解报告的关键发现为何被列为最高机密，且仅限制13名机构外官员接触。
A security warning, buried: How a classified TSA report stalled inside DHS
March 25, 2026 / 10:36 AM EDT / CBS News
An internal watchdog report in the Department of Homeland Security identified serious vulnerabilities in TSA’s screenings at airports nationwide — and the agency has yet to respond five months later, according to internal communications provided to House Homeland Security Committee staff and reviewed by CBS News.
Airports nationwide are in disarray amid Congress’ failure to approve DHS funding, with TSA agents having gone without pay for 40 days.
“Red team” warnings, real-world stakes
After a classified inspector general audit deployed “red team” testing of airport checkpoints — undercover audits in which investigators attempt to slip simulated weapons or explosives past screeners — investigators raised serious concerns about vulnerabilities in TSA screening procedures.
Investigators questioned if a politically popular 2025 policy change allowing passengers to keep their shoes on during screening may have outpaced the technology’s ability to detect threats concealed in footwear.
DHS top watchdog undercuts Noem’s sworn testimony
During previous sworn testimony, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told lawmakers that “all of the recommendations” in the inspector general’s report had already been implemented.
But in a March 4 memo to TSA leadership, Inspector General Joseph Cuffari made clear his office has received no evidence — written or oral — to support that claim.
According to internal communications provided to House Homeland Security Committee staff and obtained by CBS News, the TSA has not submitted a required response to the audit— now nearly five months after the report’s release.
In fact, auditors say they are still waiting for even the most basic step in the oversight process: A formal “management decision” outlining whether TSA agrees with the findings and what corrective actions it plans to take.
Without that, the recommendations remain, in official terms, “open and unresolved.”
A report TSA couldn’t see
The breakdown traces back months in connection with a rare, extraordinary decision inside of DHS.
According to inspector general correspondence, a key finding of TSA’s red team testing was elevated to a Top Secret designation with strict distribution limits, restricting access to just 13 individuals across government.
In correspondence sent directly to Noem, Cuffari said the department provided a narrow list of 13 individuals designated by the DHS secretary herself, including just “three Members of Congress; two employees in OIG; seven employees in the [DHS]; and one employee in the Executive Office of the President.” Cuffari added in his letter to Noem that the department also mandated that “any further distribution had to have your written permission.”
Notably absent from that list: TSA leadership.
The result was the opposite of oversight: auditors had identified a problem, but the agency responsible for fixing it had been restricted from accessing or formally engaging with the findings for over five months.
Auditors repeatedly asked DHS leadership to lift or modify those restrictions so they could engage directly with the agency responsible for fixing the problem. According to the correspondence obtained by CBS News, those requests went unanswered.
Even Congress was indirectly affected: because of the same restrictions, Cuffari noted that OIG had been unable to discuss the substance of the audit with lawmakers beyond a narrow, pre-approved group.
Repeated requests, no response
Under federal law and DHS policy, agencies must issue a “management decision” within 90 days, outlining whether they agree with findings and what corrective actions they will take. According to the documents obtained by CBS News, that process has not even begun.
“I am writing to inform you that OIG has not received such information — written or oral — from DHS or TSA, despite our requests to the Secretary and you for that information,” Cuffari wrote in a March 4 memo addressed to Ha Nguyen McNeill, the senior TSA official performing the duties of the administrator. “Please promptly provide an original copy of the documents describing any actions the Department and/or TSA took on each of the recommendations and any supporting evidence.”
In another February letter to TSA leadership, Cuffari warned that the response was already overdue, noting that his office had been “unable to substantively engage TSA on this project since September 18, 2025” due to the department-imposed restriction on who could see the findings of the red-team testing, dubbed Top Secret.
Cuffari urged the secretary to unwind the situation, writing, “I respectfully request that you rescind the portion of your September 18, 2025 memorandum that limited dissemination… This step would allow OIG to engage with TSA, the operational component… responsible for implementing any corrective actions.” But according to Cuffari, DHS did not do so. Nor did it meet basic procedural obligations.
A system that failed to respond
By early March, the disconnect hardened into something more stark. The paper trail shared with members of the House Homeland Security Committee illustrates repeated attempts to close a communication gap warning of national security implications.
Letters were sent in December, February and again in March requesting basic compliance: A written response, supporting documentation, any indication that the recommendations had been addressed. None produced an answer.
Even earlier deadlines slipped without acknowledgment: DHS did not submit technical comments on the draft report before its release, nor did it provide the required management response after the final report was issued on Nov. 1, 2025, according to Cuffari.
TSA already under strain
More than 450 TSA officers have left the workforce since the latest DHS funding lapse began, according to TSA officials, while callouts among frontline screeners have climbed into the double digits as the shutdown stretches into its sixth week. Airports are already contending with longer lines, thinner staffing, and uneven screening operations—conditions that amplify the potential consequences of any unresolved security gap. Against that backdrop, the failure to formally process and respond to identified security vulnerabilities raises a more fundamental question about whether the system can absorb both political and operational pressure at once.
The House Committee on Homeland Security — charged with overseeing DHS operations and empowered to compel testimony and documents — is now confronting a scenario in which a core accountability mechanism appears to have stalled entirely.
The revelation comes on the eve of a high stakes hearing, with TSA’s acting administrator set to testify tomorrow before lawmakers in a panel centered on the DHS shutdown.
New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was sworn in on Tuesday and is likely to interface differently with congressional staff and lawmakers seeking to probe not just what the TSA audit found, but why key findings of the report were classified as top secret, with access limited to just 13 officials outside of the agency responsible.