A sharply divided House approved an air-travel security bill Thursday that puts the Republican-controlled chamber in conflict with the Senate over whether airport screeners of passengers and baggage should be federal employees.
The House bill would allow the administration to use either private contractors or government workers as screeners, while imposing higher standards and greater federal oversight on airport security forces. Last month, the Senate unanimously approved legislation to put 28,000 federal employees in charge of screening at major airports and bring airport security under the control of the Justice Department.
After a largely party-line vote of 218-214 that rejected making the screeners federal employees, the House approved the air-security measure, 286-139.
