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