WASHINGTON, (June 2, 3004) — The U.S. anti-terrorism agency created to protect planes, trains, and transport trucks after the Sept. 11 attacks will likely be downsized, and may eventually fade away, reports the Associated Press.

The Transportation Security Administration, which hired some 65,000 employees and has spent more than $10 billion in almost four years, has come under fire for its performance, leaving it vulnerable to congressional officials — mainly Republican — who want to reduce its size.

After the terrorist attacks, “people were panicked to put in place a massive bureaucracy,” AP quoted House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica as saying. The Florida Republican says the time has come to rethink the TSA and cut it back.

Mica plans to meet with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge soon to talk about reorganizing TSA — which grew out of the DOT and incorporated in Homeland Security Department last year.

Though Congress originally charged the agency with protecting all modes of transportation, TSA has done little beyond aviation, critics claim, and other responsibilities like trains and trucks are being whittled away. Almost all TSA’s $5.3 billion budget request for next year is devoted to air transport.

Just last week TSA announced it has entered into the third of four phases of its Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program for transport workers, including truck drivers.

The Prototype Phase will develop a uniform identification credential — which includes the use of smart card technology with biometrics — for all transportation workers who require unescorted access to secure areas at seaports, airports, rail, pipeline, trucking and mass transit facilities.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has been pressing U.S. officials to accept the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card in place of the TWIC card as an all-purpose security I.D. for Canadian truckers, since there is no mechanism for Canadian truck drivers to even apply for the TWIC program.

— with files from Associated Press