and has been with the agency for 17 years. he says tsa is cutting corners on the screening process to shorten wait times. one example, tsa reduced the sensitivity on all walk-through metal detectors at airports across america. they are reducing the concentration of metal that it would take to set off that alarm so you can speed up alarms and have fewer pat-downs. how do you know? because there s a memo out that supports it. reporter: the memo says the order came in 2013 changing all detector settings in all lanes to the tsa pre-check setting to normalize the passenger experience. brainard says the practice continues today and he worries bomb making components could go undetected. you could have a 30 minute wait time and they treat it like it s a national emergency. it s such an unhealthy obsession of placing speed over security. reporter: brainard says that obstruction also led the tsa to disable technology on x-ray machines that screen carry-on
according to this tas memo, the access will not finish testing the existing work force until the end of next year. brainard knows despite whistle-blower protection and consistent top ratings on his tsa performance evaluations, speaking out could cost him his job. i fully expect that the first discussion that they re going to have is how they can fire me. reporter: he believes these issues are too urgent to keep quiet. to be clear, no changes have been made to the body scanners that travelers go through. now at cnn, we reached out to both agencies investigating brainard s complaints, but no comment from either. brainard has secured a whistle-blower attorney in response to the complaints raised in our story. the head of tsa told me that whistle-blowers, and i m quoting, provide a very valuable service, and it s our responsibility to fully investigate those concerns to see if they represent a valid security risk or not. but the tsa says they have not completed their assessment.
bags in precheck lanes. this internal memo states as of last month those x-ray machines should be operated without the auto detection algorithm enabled. put simply when the that box is no longer on the screen. tsa has made changes to the settings which really hamper the ability of the x-ray operator to detect explosives in carry-on baggage. they have been putting millions of passengers into tsa pre-check who are not pre-check. you do not have an entire population in pre-check that are voted. good morning reporter: cnn put this to tsa administrator david petkoski. he said they are not prioritizing wait times over security. i won t discuss particular procedures because that s not appropriate. rest assured that we do provide the level of security that we think is appropriate based on the risk of a passenger. reporter: brainard says the issues he s raised are
introduce this kind of variable. reporter: last year the special counsel ordered dhs to investigate brainard s complaints righting, there is a substantial likelihood that the information provided to osc discloses gross mismanagement and specific danger to public safety. my biggest fear is having something happen that costs american lofts, and i didn t step up and put a stop to it at least try because it s going to happen. it s not a question of if, it s a question of when. we are along overdue for another attack. reporter: the tsa took action on one of his complaints saying they continued to use an ineffective test to determine if new hires were colorblind, a disqualifying medical condition even after concerns about the test s effectiveness were raised. if you had something in the bag and the person were colorblind, they wouldn t see the bottom if it were the only thing in the bag. reporter: tsa is using a new test for new hires.
brainard has secured a whistle-blower attorney. in response to the claims in our story the head of tsa told me, we provide a valuable service and it s our responsibility to fully investigate the concerns to see if they represent a valid security risk or not but the tsa said they have not completed their assessment. ahead, an evangelical magazine calls for president trump to be removed from the oval office. hear why and if this impacts the president s religious base. can you tell me the story again? every family has their own unique story. give your family the chance to discover theirs this holiday season, with ancestry. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? this holiday season, memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere.