WASHINGTON — Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders, and an exclusive group of senior US officials are exempt from toughened airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.

Aviation security officials would not name those who can skip the controversial screening, but other officials said those VIPs range from such top officials as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and FBI Director Robert Mueller to congressional leaders such as incoming House Speaker John Boehner, who avoided security before a recent flight from Washington.

The heightened new security procedures by the Transportation Security Administration, which involve either a scan by a full-body detector or a personal pat-down, have spurred outrage in the lead-up to the Thanksgiving holiday airport crush.

But while passengers have no choice but to submit to either the detector or what some complain is an intrusive pat-down, senior government officials can opt out if they fly accompanied by government security guards approved by the TSA.

“Government officials traveling with approved federal law enforcement security details are not required to undergo security screening,’’ TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball said, speaking about checkpoint security at airports. “TSA follows a specialized screening protocol for federal law enforcement officers and those under their control, which includes identity verification.’’

The TSA would not explain why it makes these exceptions. But many of the exempted government officials have gone through several levels of security clearances, including FBI background checks, and travel with armed law enforcement, eliminating the need for an additional layer of security at airports.

Armed law enforcement officials who travel commercially are also allowed to skip airport security after they fill out the proper paperwork at the airport.

Some members of President Obama’s Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, travel almost exclusively on government or military planes and are therefore not subject to airport security.

Geithner travels with a Secret Service detail, for example, the only Treasury official with such a security exception. When Mueller and John Morton, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, travel on commercial airlines with their federal security details, they also skip the lines, machines, and pat-downs.

Same goes for Boehner, the top House Republican, who was sighted last week being guided past security lines at Reagan. Spokesmen for both Boehner and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not discuss security arrangements. But under a policy started by the Bush administration after the Sept. 11 attacks, a military aircraft is made available to the speaker, third in line to the presidency, for all official flight needs.

Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer said the only Congress members with protective details are leaders, “based upon a threat analysis conducted by the [US Capitol Police] and affirmed by the Capitol Police Board.’’

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