Congressmen Scrutinize TSA Over $135 Million in Surplus Equipment

Congressional overseers sent a sternly worded letter to the TSA Administrator questioning why his agency is hoarding millions of dollars worth of furniture and equipment that has been languishing in warehouses across three states.

TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger is again facing scrutiny from lawmakers. This time, members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform want to know exactly how much it is costing taxpayers to hold on to more than $135 million worth of surplus furnishings and equipment in TSA warehouses in New Jersey, Texas and Virginia.

A letter signed by Committee Chairman Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) and Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets Chair Florida Rep. John Micah (R) was sent to Neffenger on Thursday. The letter demands details on the type of unused furniture and equipment that the agency is storing at warehouses across the country.

The committee members are also seeking assurances that there are no other warehouses or private storage facilities that regulators are unaware of in other locations. Additionally, the congressional overseers requested a more complete breakdown of the value of the surplus items in storage as well as the costs associated with storing and/or disposing of mothballed items.

The letter to Neffenger noted that many of the items that the agency now has in storage were slated to be disposed of in March. These 311 items that the agency still hasn’t gotten around to throwing out have a value of nearly $29 million alone.

This isn’t the first time that the TSA has gotten into hot water with regulators over wasteful spending and big-ticket budget items sitting idly in storage. In August of last year, it was revealed that the agency wasted nearly $160 million on ineffective and possibly dangerous body scanners which saw only very limited use before being pulled from airports.

[Photo: The Atlantic]