TSA leader removed after reports of security lapses
WASHINGTON — The acting head of the Transportation Security Administration has been removed from his job, one of a number of steps being taken to restore confidence in the agency following news reports that undercover security agents had penetrated airport security on 67 occasions.
Melvin Carraway was reassigned to the Office of State and Local Law Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday that acting Deputy Director Mark Hatfield will step in to lead TSA until a new administrator is confirmed.
Johnson is moving swiftly to address concerns raised following a critical Inspector General’s report that identified significant issues with TSA security procedures. In addition to reassigning Carraway, Johnson said he has directed TSA’s leadership to revise its standard operating procedures to address specific vulnerabilities identified in the IG’s report.
“The numbers in these reports never look good out of context, but they are a critical element in the continual evolution of our aviation security,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday. “We take these findings very seriously in our continued effort to test, measure and enhance our capabilities and techniques as threats evolve.”
According to the draft report, federal undercover investigators were able to penetrate security checkpoints at U.S. airports carrying illegal weapons or simulated bombs 95 percent of the time, ABC News first reported Monday.
TSA routinely catches scores of regular passengers each week as they attempt to bring knives, guns or other contraband onboard flights in their carry-on luggage. TSA also uses high-tech methods and X-ray equipment to screen all checked baggage.
The television news network reported that those safeguards were regularly penetrated in tests done by so-called Homeland Security Red Teams.
Johnson said he received a classified briefing of the IG’s preliminary findings and that while “it is not appropriate or prudent to publicly describe the results,” he thought it necessary to outline immediate steps the department is taking in light of the issues raised in the draft IG report.
At a White House briefing Tuesday afternoon, press secretary Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama continues to believe that Americans should feel confident traveling in airports across the country.
“The president certainly does have high standards for the TSA and if there are vulnerabilities that have been exposed by this classified report, then the president has high expectations that the TSA is going to take the steps necessary to resolve them,” Earnest said.
In addition to revising its procedures, Johnson said TSA will retest and re-evaluate the screening equipment it currently uses in airports across the country, train front-line personnel and conduct intensive training for all supervisory personnel to address vulnerabilities highlighted by the work of the DHS Red Team. And Johnson said he has asked the IG and TSA to continue to conduct random covert testing to ensure systems are effective at identifying threats.
He pledged to remain personally engaged and will receive progress reports on a biweekly basis.
“I continue to have confidence in the TSA workforce,” Johnson said, noting that during the last fiscal year, TSA officers screened a record number of passengers at airports in the United States, and, at the same time, seized a record number of prohibited items.
Johnson also urged the Senate to move quickly to confirm Obama’s choice of U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Pete Neffenger as the next administrator of TSA. The department has been under interim leadership since John Pistole stepped down last year.
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