The airline yesterday said cellphones and medical devices are excluded from the ban. Everything else, the airline said, would need to be packed in checked luggage.
It is unclear what other countries and airlines the ban will apply to, how long it will be in place or what prompted it.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly phoned lawmakers over the weekend to brief them on aviation security issues that have prompted the impending electronics ban, according a congressional aide briefed on the discussion.
A US government official said such a ban has been considered for several weeks. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose the internal security discussions by the federal government.
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David Lapan, a spokesman for Homeland Security Department, declined to comment.
"We have no comment on potential security precautions, but will provide any update as appropriate," Lapan said in an email.
The Transportation Security Administration, part of Homeland Security, also declined to comment.
Royal Jordanian said the electronics ban affects its flights to New York, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal.
"There would be a huge disadvantage to having everyone put their electronics in checked baggage," said Jeffrey Price, a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
He said thefts from baggage would skyrocket, as when England tried a similar ban in 2006, and "some laptops have batteries that can catch fire and it's easier to detect it when it's in the cabin rather than burning in the hold."
However, there are also advantages to screening items in checked baggage instead of as carry-on luggage.
Most major airports in the United States have a computer tomography or CT scanner for checked baggage, which creates a detailed picture of a bag's contents.
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