Attempted terrorist attack puts hold on Senate confirmation of TSA chief



Posted: Tuesday, December 29, 2009

by Jeremy Wallace
Political de Facto

Last week's attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas day has stirred up quite a debate in the Senate over President Obama's nomination of Erroll Southers for chief of the Transportation Security Administration.

Southers is a former FBI special agent and a counterterrorism expert and is currently assistant chief for homeland security and intelligence for the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department.

Two Senate committees have already given their bipartisan support for Southers, however Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has objected to his nomination saying he wants additional testimony to clarify Southers's stand on unionizing the TSA, a move which has Democratic support. So for the time being while the Senate continues to debate Southers nomination, Gale Rossides will act as temporary administrator for the TSA.

DeMint, in a statement, has said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged attempted attack in Detroit "is a perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA". He went on to say "For now the TSA has "flexibility to make real-time decisions that allowed it to quickly improve security measures in response to this attempted attack. And that if organized labor were involved, union bosses would have the power to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had not yet scheduled a floor vote on the Southers nomination and the Senate will not be back in session for another three weeks when they return from their break in January.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Harry Reid, said on Monday that "The majority leader is working with the White House to get Southers confirmed "as quickly as possible." And that "Republican obstructionism has prevented TSA from having the leadership in place that the organization deserves."

This nomination has also brought on concerns from other conservatives who say this could open the door for slow-paced collective bargaining that will prevent security changes that need to be implemented quickly.

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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)
» left by Linda DeWitt
 2 years 132 days ago.
67 fans. Follow Linda DeWitt on twitter!
Very though provoking article. (alleged attack attempt) LOL Thanks for sharing.
» left by Jeremy Wallace 2 years 132 days ago.
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Linda, Thank you for your comment.
» left by David Tanguay
 2 years 111 days ago.
189 fans.
Good article, thanks for sharing
» left by Jeremy Wallace 2 years 111 days ago.
7 fans. Follow Jeremy Wallace on twitter!
Thank you David. In an update to this article, Erroll Southers withdrew his name from consideration this past Wednesday after it was revealed that he had provided misleading information to Congress.
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