After wasting taxpayer money without accomplishing meaningful results, the Trump administration has decided to dismantle the controversial Quiet Skies program.
In fact, the costly Transportation Security Administration (TSA) surveillance program has been accused of targeting political opponents while failing to catch a single terrorist.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed that Quiet Skies cost taxpayers $200 million every year.
The program also became a political weapon against Trump allies and conservative figures during the Biden administration.
Quick Skies allowed federal air marshals to conduct surveillance on American travelers who were not on official terrorist watch lists but were flagged by an algorithm considering travel patterns and connections.
Despite its massive cost to taxpayers, the program produced zero results in preventing terrorist attacks while operating under a veil of secrecy.
Noem did not mince words about the program’s failures: “The program, under the guise of ‘national security,’ was used to target political opponents and benefit political allies of the Biden Administration.”
She added that the program “failed to stop a SINGLE terrorist attack while costing US taxpayers roughly $200 million a year.”
Evidence suggests the program maintained an “exclusion list” that protected well-connected individuals from scrutiny.
This list reportedly included foreign royals, political elites, professional athletes, and journalists favorable to the previous administration.
Meanwhile, conservatives and Trump allies faced heightened surveillance without justification.
One of the most alarming cases involved Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was placed on the surveillance list shortly after criticizing Kamala Harris.
Gabbard believes the targeting was politically motivated:
“I think they were trying to intimidate me, but also, they were trying to really create this chilling effect, probably knowing that I wouldn’t stay silent about it and send a message out to people that if you go and criticize then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now going to be the Democratic nominee for president, you too, would face the consequences.”
The political bias extended to protection for Democrat allies. Documents revealed that William Shaheen, husband of Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, received special exemptions from surveillance.
The Lebanese-American attorney he was traveling with, Celine Attalah, was flagged as a “known or suspected terrorist” despite being a U.S. citizen with no criminal record.
Noem is demanding accountability for this abuse of power, declaring, “It is clear that the Quiet Skies program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration — weaponized against its political foes and exploited to benefit their well-heeled friends.”
“I am calling for a Congressional investigation to unearth further corruption at the expense of the American people and the undermining of US national security,” she continued.
The termination of Quiet Skies fulfills another Trump campaign promise to eliminate wasteful government programs and end politically-motivated surveillance of American citizens.
While the program has been scrapped, other security screening measures will remain in place to ensure traveler safety.
