Counterterrorism expert Erroll Southers was nominated in September by President Barack Obama and approved by committee last month. But Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., placed a hold on the nomination because of a dispute over whether TSA workers should have collective bargaining.
"Sadly the Republican obstructionism of just one person, Senator DeMint, prevented TSA from having the leadership in place that the organization deserves," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. But DeMint's spokesman, Wesley Denton, said his boss is not at fault for the delay in Southers' nomination.
"Democrats have only themselves to blame for not having a confirmed TSA administrator," Denton said. "President Obama did not make this a priority, waiting 243 days in office before making a nomination, and Harry Reid has been too busy trading earmarks for votes on health care to schedule debate on the nominee."
Southers has said he would not pass judgment on collective bargaining for TSA workers until he is in office and has heard from all parties. In reality, aviation security consultant Rich Roth said, the decision will be made above his pay grade -- by the White House and the head of the Department of Homeland Security, of which TSA is one division.
The National Treasury Employees Union is leading an effort to unionize TSA workers and has endorsed Southers' nomination.
DeMint, ranking member of the aviation subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the Christmas Day incident is an example of why it's so important not to allow collective bargaining at TSA. "Today, the TSA has flexibility to make real-time decisions that allowed it to quickly improve security measures in response to this attempted attack," he said in a statement sent to Sphere by his staff. "Yet, many Americans aren't aware that the president's nominee to lead the TSA appears ready to give union bosses the power to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports."
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved Southers' nomination on Nov. 19. Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., said Southers should have been confirmed quickly after that. "The head of TSA is a key player in the government's efforts to safeguard the American people from terrorism. Holding the nomination is contrary to the public interest," said Lieberman's spokeswoman, Leslie Phillips.
TSA currently is being run by Gale Rossides, but the White House is anxious to get a permanent leader confirmed, especially after a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet bound for Detroit using a chemical explosive.
"The acting TSA administrator is very able, and we have a solid team of professionals at TSA, but Senator DeMint and others should put their short-term political interests aside and allow the Senate vote on the confirmation of the president's nominee to head the agency," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.
Roth, of CTI Consulting in Bethesda, Md., said having a permanent TSA head wouldn't have stopped the attempted Christmas Day bombing. But "there might have been a calming effect afterward to have someone at the reins," said Roth, a former Secret Service specialist in explosives and counter espionage.
At recent aviation security conferences, Roth said, it was clear that TSA's direction is on hold until the new head is confirmed.
Southers, assistant chief for homeland security at the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department, is widely respected and likely to be confirmed once DeMint lifts his hold, Roth said. Senate tradition allows a single senator to slow down a nomination.
The Senate does not come back into session until Jan. 18. If DeMint does not lift the hold before then, a vote could be forced after a procedural delay of several days. Numerous other Obama appointees are still awaiting approval by the Senate.
DeMint complained Tuesday that Reid announced he was starting the formal procedure to lift DeMint's hold. "There's no need for Senator Reid to grandstand by filing cloture," DeMint said. "I'm only looking for some time to debate the issue and have a vote so this isn't done in secret."
Democrat Chad McGowan, who is running for DeMint's seat, called on the senator to stop playing "politics" by blocking the nomination. "This is not the time to have nobody in charge of America's air security," McGowan said. "Terrorists don't care if we're Republicans or Democrats; they only care that we're Americans. Senator DeMint needs to understand that."
