Americans hate it. The states hate it. Everyone has been balking at the implementation of REAL-ID, the government’s program to create a defacto national ID card masquerading as a new kind of driver’s license. States have been fighting against it since the very beginning. Now, it seems that REAL-ID just might be at death’s door as the DHS has slashed its budget.

The U.S. Senate recently approved a $43 billion budget for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the federal government’s 2010 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. The appropriation called for substantial increases in DHS spending in several key technology areas but slashed Real ID funding by 40%, from $100 million to $60 million.

The budget cut suggests that Real ID is going nowhere, said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. But Congress’ hesitation to kill Real ID entirely highlights the touchy political nature of the program, he said.

Most likely, Congress is reluctant to kill REAL-ID completely because they do not want to look like they are soft on security and fighting terrorism. We already know that, even if REAL-ID were come to fruition, it wouldn’t prevent another 9/11. Politicians, however, won’t admit this and continue to push the idea that REAL-ID would save us from further attacks. It is security theater masquerading as protecting Americans.

The Real ID Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005 as part of the government’s effort to combat terrorism. The law requires states to follow a single national standard for identifying and authenticating people who apply for driver’s licenses. It spells out specific technical and process requirements, including the use of biometric identifiers, for issuing licenses.

But the law has evoked widespread criticism from privacy advocates who say it would create a de facto national ID card that’s hard to manage and even harder to secure. A major concern is the requirement to link all state driver’s license databases via a central hub for data sharing.

States mostly rejected REAL-ID for the fact that it was an underfunded mandate. Several states, including Montana, claimed that it was not just underfunded, it was a violation of states’ rights. Current DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano lived in Arizona when that state became one of the early opponents to REAL-ID. Since becoming DHS Secretary, she has repeatedly said that it is difficult to push REAL-ID onto other states when she has been an opponent of the scheme and wants it repealed altogether.

While not quite dead yet, REAL-ID appears to be slinking quietly away.