The Transportation Security Administration could save $17.5 million over five years if the agency had less-expensive workers conducting internal investigations, agency officials told the House’s Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation security Tuesday.

According to a USA Today report, the officials say they must complete a workforce study first, but either trimming the ranks of 105 costly criminal investigators or replacing them with less-costly workers could reduce the overall TSA budget. This hearing followed a September report from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general about TSA’s criminal investigators, who earn an average of $161,794. These staffers are expected to spend at least half of their time investigating and apprehending criminal suspects.

However, in 75 percent of cases during 2010 and 2011, the inspector general found that the criminal investigators monitored the investigations of other agencies or investigated employee misconduct, and these sorts of positions could be paid less, the article reports.