Head of TSA security operations ‘removed’

WASHINGTON — A House committee said this week that the head of security operations at the Transportation Security Administration has been replaced.

“Kelly Hoggan has been removed from his position as head of security at TSA,” the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press obtained a memo sent by TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger that does not mention Hoggan but names a temporary replacement.

“Darby LaJoye will serve as the Acting Assistant Administrator of the Office of Security Operations,” Neffenger wrote in the memo addressed to TSA senior leaders.

“Darby LaJoye is an experienced Federal Security Director with successful leadership tours at two of the nation’s largest airports, Los Angeles International Airport in California and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York,” the memo added.

The oversight committee said Hoggan received more than $90,000 in bonuses over a period from late 2013 to late 2014.

About a year later, a report from the Homeland Security Inspector General’s office revealed that agency employees failed to find explosives, weapons and other dangerous items in more than 95 percent of covert tests at multiple U.S. airports.

That report and allegations of other mismanagement within TSA have drawn congressional scrutiny and promoted multiple hearings on Capitol Hill.

Hoggan’s ouster also comes amid growing concerns of massive security lines at airports this summer.

The TSA did not say where Hoggan has been reassigned.