Congress has cut the Transportation Security Administration’s budget by $225 million, and now some lawmakers are suggesting all or parts of the federal agency be privatized.
“If you come to Orlando airport or Sanford airport, what is going on is almost criminal to American citizens, the way they are treated,” USA Today quoted U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., as saying. “This is the mess we’ve created.”
Lawmakers’ concern centers on the administrative functions of the TSA. Critics charge the administrative piece detracts from the agency’s ability to focus on keeping fliers safe.
“If TSA can’t function, let’s have GSA take over contracting,” Mica said in a statement. “When Congress created TSA, it was never intended to be the operator, administrator, regulator and auditor. TSA must be a risk-based security agency responsible for setting standards, analyzing and disseminating intelligence and auditing performance. Unfortunately, what we have is an organization that is more concerned with protecting its bloated bureaucracy of 3,900 headquarters administrators making $104,000 per year on average than doing what is best for the American public.”
The TSA has long been a target for critics who point to the agency as the poster child of a bloated federal bureaucracy. Supports say TSA agents have a thankless job as they go about their jobs.
