Public Biography
Carl Brandvold is a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, where he has served in the Office of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs since 2017. He is the agency’s principal point of contact for press inquiries concerning checkpoint operations, prohibited items, and proposals the agency has not received.
Mr. Brandvold began his career in federal public affairs at the National Weather Service, where for six years he announced weather, and moved to the Federal Aviation Administration in 2011, where he announced delays. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Maryland. Members of the Washington press corps describe his statements as complete, accurate, promptly delivered and unresponsive to the question asked, a combination that has made him one of the most quoted and least informative spokesmen in the federal government.
He first appeared in The New York Time5 in October 2026, in connection with a Gahanna, Ohio, man’s proposal to replace passenger screening with a bowl of knives at every jetway, when he said that the agency “has not received a proposal from Mr. Henderson and does not comment on proposals it has not received.” The agency had at that time possessed a copy of the proposal for two days.
Notable Statements
- “The agency has not received a proposal from Mr. Henderson and does not comment on proposals it has not received.”
- “T.S.A. does not discuss the specifics of screening procedures, the existence of which it can confirm.”
Articles
- Ohio Man Unveils Plan to Replace T.S.A. Screening With a Bowl of Knives at Every Jetway — issued the agency’s statement
Articles
- Ohio Man Unveils Plan to Replace T.S.A. Screening With a Bowl of Knives at Every Jetway — “Like a library book, but for stabbing,” Mr. Henderson said of the return procedure, which he described as self-policing.