Overview
- Audio recorded before a press conference at Tampa International Airport captured a TSA agent saying he was “terrified” of an HR superior early in his career.
- The same conversation included complaints about busy, inflexible schedules, with agents wishing for different days off and noting lost flexibility for errands.
- More than two dozen TSA officers were overheard chatting as they waited for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to take the stage.
- A video clip of the exchange was posted to X by reporter Alexander Willis, drawing wider attention to the remarks.
- At the event, Noem presented symbolic $10,000 bonus awards to more than a dozen TSA employees selected for “exemplary service,” with payments to be added via direct deposit following the shutdown that ended on November 12.