A Transportation Security Administration employee who identifies as transgender has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Department of Homeland Security policy that restricts TSA pat-downs to an officer’s actual sex, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.
The policy stems from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office, which ended federal recognition of transgender status for workforce purposes.
The employee, Danielle Mittereder, began working for the TSA in June 2024 and is currently assigned to Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Mittereder’s lawsuit, filed earlier this month, argues that the new policy violates federal civil rights law.
According to the complaint, “Solely because she is transgender, TSA now prohibits Plaintiff from conducting core functions of her job, impedes her advancement to higher-level positions and specialized certifications, excludes her from TSA-controlled facilities, and subjects her identity to unwanted and undue scrutiny each workday.”
The filing states that Mittereder “identified and presented as a woman” throughout his employment and performed female passenger pat-downs between October 2024 and Feb. 7, 2025.
He conducted several pat-downs per shift during that period. After Feb. 7, however, the president’s executive order barred him from performing pat-downs on women.
The lawsuit contends, “By prohibiting Plaintiff from conducting pat-downs because she is transgender, TSA discriminates against her for failing to fulfill traditional sex stereotypes.”
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Mittereder claims the policy caused “anguish and humiliation,” leading him to take leave for the remainder of his Feb. 7 shift as well as Feb. 8 and Feb. 11.
The Associated Press contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin responded in a statement reported by Fox News:
“Does the AP want female travelers to be subjected to pat-downs by male TSA officers?” She added, “What a useless and fundamentally dangerous idea, to prioritize mental delusion over the comfort and safety of American travelers.”
Jonathan Puth, an attorney representing Mittereder, said the administration’s policy is “terribly demeaning and 100% illegal.”
The policy is “terribly demeaning and 100 percent illegal,” Danielle Mittereder’s lawyer Jonathan Puth says. https://t.co/5PIw6xApU2
— The Advocate (@TheAdvocateMag) November 14, 2025
The case highlights the first major legal challenge to the Trump administration’s reinstatement of sex-based federal employee policies. No court hearings have been scheduled.
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