After nearly two decades of shuffling barefoot through airport security lines, American travelers can finally leave their shoes on. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week ended one of the most visible post-9/11 security measures, a rule born following a failed act of terror in 2001, when a British national, Richard Reid, tried to ignite explosives hidden in his sneakers mid-flight. 

The attempted terror attack did not succeed, but it sparked a new era of airport screening that would see millions of passengers removing their shoes — until now.

Yet he maintained that random screening should continue to play a critical role in keeping travelers and TSA vigilant. 

“Just to keep people honest,” he said.

And while some critics dismiss the original shoe rule as “security theater,” Price points to the value of deterrence. 

“Anybody that is completely dedicated and wants to be successful will probably be able to do it,” he said. “Just like if somebody wanted to break in your house, they’re probably going to be able to do it no matter how many security measures you deploy.”

“The goal though, is to make that level of deterrence so high that they don’t go to your house. That they go somewhere else and try their criminal or terrorist acts. And that’s really the goal of any security system is ‘not on my watch.’ Out of my house.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference where she announced that most airline passengers will no longer have to remove their shoes at security checkpoints on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at Reagan National Airport in Washington.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

‘Make screening easier’

TSA turned a corner on the mandate to remove shoes during security, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announcing on Tuesday the immediate end of the shoe-off requirement.

Noem made the announcement about the nearly 20-year policy while at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., in a press conference late Tuesday afternoon. 

“In those 20 years since that policy was put in place, our security technology has changed dramatically. It’s evolved. TSA has changed,” she said at the presser. “We have a multi-layered, whole-of-government approach now to security and to the environment that people anticipate and experience when they come into an airport that has been honed and it’s been hardened.”

She added, “We took a hard look at how TSA does its business, how it does its screening processes, and what we do to make people safe, but also provide some hospitality as well.”

A man puts his shoes into a tray for an airport security check. (iStock)

The announcement was made in an effort to “make screening easier for passengers, improve traveler satisfaction and will reduce wait times,” according to a TSA press release.

Some passengers may still be subject to a search of their shoes “if they get put into a different situation or need additional layers of screening.”

Noem said the removal of liquids, coats and belts are also being evaluated, declaring that “the Golden Age of America is here.”

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS and TSA.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley DiMella contributed to this report.