US airports begin lifting shoe removal requirement at security checks after TSA decides to end this nearly 20-year-old rule

Following reports that the Transportation Security Administration is planning to withdraw the shoe removal rule, some US airports have begun lifting the requirement for passengers to remove their shoes during security screenings. According to CBS News, airports that have removed the shoe requirement include international airports in Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, and Portland.

Reacting to the decision, which took effect nearly two decades ago in 2006, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it "big news" from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA. The rule came into existence years after a British man hid a bomb in one of his shoes during a flight to Miami.

CBS News, citing sources, on Monday, July 7, 2025, reported the change in TSA policy appears to be a phased approach, with Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, and Philadelphia International Airport among the first where the no-shoe requirement will expire.


Responding to the CBS story on X, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, "Big news from @DHSgov!" Her response included the emojis for an airplane and a shoe. TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the removal of the policy.

TSA began making passengers remove their shoes to screen for explosives in August 2006. The policy was implemented nearly five years after the 9/11 attacks and when Richard Reid, who is known as the "shoe bomber," used matches in an attempt to ignite explosive devices hidden in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami.

In 2013, TSA launched the TSA PreCheck Trusted Traveler program, where members are not required to remove their shoes. Children under 12 and adults 75 years or older are exempt from removing their shoes.