Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama on 8 July called for dismantling the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, each posting a blunt “Abolish TSA” message within minutes of one another. Their demand follows the administration’s move to drop the two-decade-old requirement that passengers remove their shoes during airport screening. The rule was adopted in late 2001 after Richard Reid tried and failed to detonate explosives concealed in his shoes on an American Airlines flight. Critics backing the senators argue that current checkpoint procedures amount to “security theatre” and say the agency has not thwarted a single terrorist plot. The TSA has not issued a public response to the calls for its abolition.