Sixty-four dollars for a gallon of coffee?

That is how much the Transportation Security Administration paid a Washington hotel to host a November 2003 awards banquet, contributing to a price tag for the party of nearly a half-million dollars, according to the Department of Homeland Security's independent investigator.

The TSA, which is in charge of airport security, also paid $3.75 for each soft drink, $1,850 for seven sheet cakes, $1,500 for three cheese displays, and more than $81,000 for awards plaques, according to the report from the department's Office of Inspector General.


There's something terribly wrong with that agency," Dorgan told the AP. "Of all the agencies, that's the one that's supposed to be working full-time against terrorist attacks."

The average TSA executive bonus was $16,477, one-third more than the overall average of $12,444 for executives in other federal departments.