Dem sen lobbied Biden admin to remove husband from watchlist that also targeted Tulsi Gabbard

Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen reportedly lobbied Biden administration officials to remove her husband from a suspected terror watchlist after his profile was flagged by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) surveillance program.

William Shaheen, the senator’s longtime husband and an Arab-American attorney, was added to the TSA’s “Quiet Skies” domestic surveillance program in October 2023. The senior New Hampshire senator spoke with then-TSA administrator David Pekoske about her husband being placed on a government watchlist and Mr. Shaheen was removed from the Quiet Skies list two days later.

CBS News first reported that the senator’s husband was being surveilled by the TSA’s Quiet Skies program, which subjects individuals to monitoring and searches by federal air marshals.

The TSA’s Quiet Skies list has also notably targeted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was shadowed by air marshals when she and her husband were traveling in 2024.

The domestic surveillance program was initiated in 2010 in a purported effort to prevent terrorist attacks on domestic flights. The watchlist has come under fierce criticism for allegedly violating the civil liberties of Americans by monitoring citizens who are not suspected of any crimes nor have a criminal record.

Shaheen, 78, who is serving in her third Senate term, announced in March that she would not seek reelection in 2026. The senator’s husband acquired multi-million dollar properties on Florida’s Gulf Coast prior to the senator’s retirement announcement, the Daily Caller News Foundation was first to report.

Following the senator’s conversation with TSA officials about her husband being subject to “degrading” searches by federal air marshals, his travel profile was added to a “secure flight exclusion list,” according to CBS News. That list notably spares travelers from additional TSA surveillance, such as random searches.

A spokesperson for the retiring senator told CBS News that she was not aware of her husband being added to the Quiet Skies list nor informed that TSA decided to give him special treatment by exempting her husband from the agency’s surveillance efforts.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CBS News’ William Shaheen has been removed from the VIP list shielding travelers from additional screening.

Gabbard previously denounced the TSA for subjecting the former Democratic congressman and her husband to random checks at airports after being added to the government watchlist. TSA whistleblowers alleged in August that Gabbard was being subject to enhanced screening.

“This is the real pain and stress that’s been caused both to me and my family by this whole situation, day and night wondering if and what government institution and agency is monitoring my phone calls, surveilling me in my movement in my travels, knowing that they may be looking for some kind of excuse or derogatory action to come after me,” Gabbard told Fox News in August.

Shaheen serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has been outspoken in her criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of foreign affairs thus far.

A spokesperson for Shaheen did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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