Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday she is ending the Transportation Safety Administration’s (TSA) “Quiet Skies Program,” saying it is costly, ineffective and used to target political opponents.

In a press release, the DHS said “since its existence,” the traveler surveillance program “has failed to stop a single terrorist attack while costing US taxpayers $200 million a year,” adding, “The program, under the guise of ‘national security,’ was used to target political opponents and benefit political allies.”

The press release said an internal investigation conducted by DHS and TSA uncovered documents, correspondence and timelines that demonstrate the “inconsistent application of Quiet Skies and watchlisting programs” to benefit political allies.

Noem did not make public evidence from the internal investigation but called on Congress to investigate the matter further.

“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,” Noem said in a statement.

“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 added.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, questioned why the DHS secretary would ask for a congressional investigation after the department did its own internal review.

“Kristi Noem is lying when she pretends that the Quiet Skies security program was previously politicized,” he said in a statement.

“It is truly bizarre she is begging for a politicalized Congressional investigation into this matter when she runs a Department of 240,000 that can conduct its own – unless it already has completed an investigation and found nothing. That said, I am happy to launch an investigation into what’s really going on here and I look forward to her full compliance.”  

Noem said eliminating the program would not compromise air safety.

“TSA’s critical aviation and security vetting functions will be maintained, and the Trump Administration will return TSA to its true mission of being laser-focused on the safety and security of the traveling public. This includes restoring the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans,” she added.

The once-secret program launched with the goal of monitoring potential security threats by “unknown or partially known terrorists.”

Through the program, undercover federal air marshals would observe passengers’ behavior. This can include watching how close they stand to the boarding area, how often they use the bathroom and any behavioral tics such as sweating or twitching.

The program has faced scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans alike in recent years, with many expressing concerns about potential civil liberty violations.

The issue came into even sharper focus last year, when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a former member of Congress, said publicly that she was placed on a “secret terror watch list” and suspected it was politically motivated.

However, The New York Times reported earlier this year that it was her travel to the Vatican for a meeting hosted by someone on an FBI watchlist, as well as visits to Lebanon and Syria, where she met with now-deposed Syrian Peader Bashar Assad, that prompted her adding to the list.

“To be clear, Tulsi Gabbard being targeted by TSA’s targeting systems was automatic and well deserved,” Thompson said. “This process has worked the same under administrations of both parties, including the first Trump administration. She can only blame herself – and the Trump administration’s herculean effort to cast her as a victim here is not supported by the facts.”

The Mississippi Democrat added, “the notion that current or former members of Congress are special and should be automatically exempt, regardless of the facts, from security rules or security screening — like some Republicans have argued — is asinine.”

Earlier this week, a DHS official confirmed to CBS News that Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-N.H.) husband was placed on the watchlist in 2023 and removed after the senator spoke with the former TSA director.

The senator’s spokesperson told CBS that she was not aware her husband had been monitored under the program.

Updated June 6 at 9:45 a.m. EDT