TSA Allows Passengers to Keep Shoes on at Airport Checkpoints, Noem Says

For more than 20 years, U.S. passengers have been mandated to take off their shoes to screen for explosives at TSA checkpoints.

A belt and shoes sit in a trays with advertising that is being used in the safety screening of travelers done by the Transportation Security Administration, at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Jan. 10, 2007. Ann Johansson/AP Photo

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is ending its decades-long policy of having passengers take off their shoes at airport security checkpoints, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Tuesday.

Noem, in confirming recent media reports about the development, announced the policy reversal at a news conference at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.