U.S. delays enforcing tougher ID rules until May 2025

The U.S. Homeland Security Department (DHS) said Monday it will delay enforcement of rules requiring Americans to get new identification cards in order to board airplanes or enter a federal building, by another two years to May 2025. The department in April 2021 had pushed back the "REAL ID" enforcement deadline until May 2023.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department (DHS) said Monday it will delay enforcement of rules requiring Americans to get new identification cards in order to board airplanes or enter a federal building, by another two years to May 2025.

The department in April 2021 had pushed back the "REAL ID" enforcement deadline until May 2023. Congress in 2005 approved federal standards for issuing identification cards but enforcement has been repeatedly pushed back. The new delay is in part "to address the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card," DHS said.