TSA Boss Dumped Over Stunning Security Lapses

Acting director Melvin Carraway replaced 'effective immediately'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2015 6:20 AM CDT
TSA Boss Dumped Over Stunning Security Lapses
In this April 28, 2015, file photo, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)

The TSA's acting director has been replaced by the acting deputy after an embarrassing report showed TSA agents failed 95% of tests in which fake explosives and weapons were smuggled through security. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says Mark Hatfield will replace Melvin Carraway until the Senate can confirm President Obama's nomination of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger as the agency's next administrator, which he hopes can be done "as quickly [as] possible," reports the New York Times. Carraway—who only became acting director in January, Politico notes—will move to Homeland Security's Office for State and Local Law Enforcement "effective immediately," Johnson says, per ABC News.

Johnson, who thanked Carraway for his 11 years of service at the TSA, has called on the agency to retrain airport agents and supervisory personnel, retest screening equipment, and boost the number of covert tests in airports. "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," he says, per Reuters. "We take these findings very seriously in our continued effort to test, measure, and enhance our capabilities and techniques as threats evolve." Johnson says he will meet with companies who manufacture airport security equipment and will be given biweekly updates from officials supervising new security standards. (More TSA stories.)

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