They have subjected babies and the elderly to controversial full body searches at airport security.
And now the TSA has shown that no one is immune to the probing hands of its agents including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Mr Rumsfeld, who was part of the George W Bush's administration, which created the agency, was given a full pat down at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
Officers, possibly concerned that the former politician might be smuggling weapons, checked Mr Rumsfeld's pants legs and shirt sleeves while his tie was tucked over his shoulder.
Perhaps fully aware of the irony of the situation, Mr Rumsfeld smiled broadly and was 'very nice' throughout the procedure, according to witnesses.
'It takes those of us with two titanium hips and a titanium shoulder a bit longer to get through TSA,' Mr Rumsfeld joked on Twitter after fellow passengers photographed the moment on their cell phones.
He was eventually cleared to travel and allowed to pass through to the departure gate.
People in the airport said that Mr Rumsfeld was recognised by several people including a group of soldiers in uniform who he waved to.
The 79-year-old wrote on Twitter that he was at the airport on his way to the funeral of former first lady Betty Ford.
'En route to Grand Rapids, MI to attend the funeral of one of America's most beloved first ladies, Betty Ford,' he tweeted.
The TSA (Transportation Security Authority) has been criticised in the past for what have claimed to be overly aggressive searches.
The agency was widely condemned after footage emerged of a baby, a six-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy being subjected to the searches in separate incidents at airports across America
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