"No real investments are going on, " said Brad Michelson, a vice president at Infinity Systems Engineering, a Colorado Springs-based government contractor in engineering, intelligence and information technology.

NPR: US Economy Hamstrung By Washington's Brinksmanship

Mr. Pistole, an FBI veteran who took over TSA in 2010, said that by studying frequent-flier histories as well as conducting background checks, he's confident the U.S. now has the technology and the intelligence information to make less-rigorous, faster screening work.

WSJ: $100 to Fly Through the Airport

Kasuri said Sunday that foreign intelligence had years ago passed on information about Khan giving nuclear technology to other countries -- prompting his removal in 2001 as head of the Khan Research Laboratories, the main nuclear lab named after him.

CNN: CIA 'sparked Pakistan nuke probe'