President Donald Trump on Friday proposed to begin the process of privatizing airport security operations handled by the Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency created after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The White House budget proposes cutting the TSA budget by $52 million and would require small airports to enroll in a program in which TSA pays for private screeners. TSA has about 50,000 federal employees who handle screening at nearly all U.S. airports.

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(Reporting by David Shepardson)