Originally Posted by
castrobenes
This bill has nothing to do with TSA. It is a law extending secret service protection to former US presidents. It doesn't mention exempting them from TSA screening.
In any case, former US presidents don't travel commercial.
castro
Yes, they do - or at least one of them does (probably the only one humble enough to do so).
I was on a commercial domestic DL flight with Jimmy Carter and three Secret Service agents a couple years ago. They boarded and deplaned from a stairway leading directly to the tarmac, where a vehicle dropped him off and picked him up, not from the jetway to/from the terminal.
This would suggest to me that he and his agents probably didn't go through the checkpoint either.
BTW, Secret Service protection is also extended to ex-First Ladies. It has been extended to only one Vice-President in history (costs the taxpayer $1 million a month, although he would NEVER fly commercial - Cheney).
Clinton extended SS protection to Chelsea Clinton for a time after he left office. Bush extended protection to his daughters (adults) when he left office, for an unknown length of time, and they are still under SS protection at this time.