The failure to get someone running TSA is only a minor irritant so long as no major terrorist attack happens on an airplane, ship or train while the spot is vacant. But if there's no one in charge of preventing it when something does happen, it's also a political disaster that could mortally wound a President's hopes for a second term

in 2008, their company landed a nearly $100 million contract from the Army that involved identifying people via retinal scans and other unique biometrics. Harding's company was the only bidder, according to the Washington Post. The company collected about $200 million in federal contracts before Harding sold it last year.

Harding landed the contract after certifying he was a "service disabled veteran" because he suffered from sleep apnea, which would have given him an edge over other prospective bidders. Cooper notes skeptically that he too suffers from sleep apnea. "But it has never been what I would call disabling," he wrote on his blog Monday. "If anything, I find myself shaking my head in complete disbelief that of all the truly serious injuries that halt the military careers of our service members, this breathing disorder would be excuse enough to get a multimillion-dollar contract."