Mica: TSA 'Cooked Books' On Private Screeners

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) used faulty data and withheld information during an evaluation and comparison of the costs of using federal airport security screeners and an alternative, federal-private screening program. GAO reported the lapse in a letter to House Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.), released by the committee Wednesday.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Screening Partnership Program was established under the Aviation Transportation Security Act (ATSA), enabling airport authorities to “opt-out” of using TSA screeners, replacing them with screeners from private-sector firms. Before the passage of ATSA, the TSA misrepresented the cost of the privatized screening program, saying it was at least 17 percent higher than the cost of using TSA-employed screeners, according to GAO.

“In essence, TSA cooked the books to try to eliminate the federal-private screening program,” stated Mica. “GAO found that TSA ignored critical data relating to costs.” The cost taxpayers incur from the TSA’s high attrition rate and the full cost of TSA’s overhead, Mica states, are other “ignored factors.”