A government watchdog discovered several shortcomings in the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) screening operations at airports around the country, and has informed Congress about them in a classified report.
Testifying before a Senate appropriations committee on Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General John Roth publicly revealed a few details about his office’s classified TSA security audit—primarily that it yielded “disappointing and troubling” results.
“The failures included failures in the technology, in TSA procedures, and in human error,” Roth told Senators in prepared remarks.
“We found layers of security simply missing,” he added.
The inspector general noted that the results were not “unexpected.” Roth referenced three prior investigations into TSA security over the last five years that turned up similar “significant vulnerabilities.”
The details of the audit remain classified, and have only been turned over to officials within DHS, TSA, and relevant Congressional committees.
Roth told lawmakers, however, that upon receiving the results of the investigation, the TSA’s response was “swift and definite.”
TSA Director Peter Neffenger, who also testified at Tuesday’s hearing, told Senators that the inspector general’s review produced “invaluable lesson learned.” He claimed that his agency has immediately embarked on a “plan of action” to address checkpoint vulnerabilities, which included improved technology, training, and leadership accountability.
That plan of action is scheduled for completion in March 2016.
Neffenger, who was confirmed to the head the agency in June, also gave Senators his view on the “root cause” of the challenges faced by TSA: More passengers and higher carry-on fees.
“Pressures driven by increasing passenger volume, an increase in checkpoint screening of baggage due to fees charged for checked bags as well as inconsistent or limited enforcement of size requirements for hand-carried bags…create a stressed screening environment at airport checkpoints,” Neffenger claimed.
He added that the “range of complex procedures that we ask our officers to employ” results in “cognitive overload,” which “all undermined our ability to effectively screen, as noted by the Inspector General’s report.”
Technology, though, may provide some relief.
As investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler noted in reviewing Neffenger’s testimony, the agency may soon stop requiring passengers to take off their shoes at checkpoints. The TSA chief hinted at “shoe x-ray” technology that holds “great promise for the traveling public.”
