TSA Let $184M Equipment Gather Dust: House

Republicans accuse agency of waste
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2012 3:27 PM CDT
TSA Let $184M Equipment Gather Dust: House
In this file photo, a light on an X-Ray baggage machine comes on in a security line at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.   (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

The Transportation Security Administration stashed $184 million worth of equipment in a Texas warehouse instead of sending it to the airports it was intended for—and then tried to hide it from Congress, House Republicans allege. In a report presented today at a joint hearing of the Oversight and Transportation committees, lawmakers accuse the agency of "wasting millions of taxpayer dollars by inefficiently deploying screen equipment," the Washington Post reports.

What's more, they say the TSA "provided inaccurate, incomplete, and potentially misleading information" to hide the snafu, to an extent that might have violated the law. "When our guys went down there, the manager told them they’d been trying to move stuff out so we wouldn’t see it," said one anonymous transportation committee staffer. The committee's chair, John Mica, is a longtime TSA critic who wants to scale down the agency. (More Transportation Security Administration stories.)

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