It seems like for the Republicans, it _should_ be a prime example of overreaching big government invading ordinary peoples' privacy. And for Democrats, it _should_ be a prime example of Islamophobia and racism against Middle Easterners inextricably linked to their second-most-hated (and also, perhaps not coincidentally, the second-most-recent) Republican President, and also a police force that can be safely [1] [2] defunded.

The fact that it hasn't been done is understandable if the votes aren't there. What I don't "get" is why no one ever brings it up. There were eight people on the Democratic presidential primary stage in 2020. Why didn't one of the trailing candidates with nothing to lose pound the table and demand getting rid of the TSA? It would certainly have made headlines.

[1] Obviously if you get rid of the police that are protecting people from theft, rape, murder, etc., things will quickly get pretty bad. If we actually got rid of the police, it would be like the dog that caught the car.

[2] The things that actually keep people safe from terrorists are (a) reinforced cockpit doors and strict procedures to keep passengers away from the flight deck in flight, and (b) post-9/11, passengers and crew will assume hijackers are plotting suicide attacks, and as a result will now quite likely resist the hijackers at all costs. (Pre-9/11, hijackers were assumed to care about their own lives, so complying with the hijackers' demands until the plane is safely on the ground was the normal policy.)