US Senate confirms new TSA administrator
New leader for the Transportation Security Administration has been confirmed by the Senate after the recent security failures caused concerns among US authorities.
The Senate voted 81-1 on Monday to tap Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in April, as the new administrator of the agency.
"Vice Admiral Neffenger, with decades of service to our nation, is a proven leader who has demonstrated an understanding of the severity of the issues at the TSA," said Senate Homeland Security and Government Reform Chairman Ron Johnson.
"I encourage Vice Admiral Neffenger to think outside the box as he works as effectively and efficiently as possible to improve the protection of our nation's transportation system and to expedite legal commerce and travel."
Former TSA director John Pistole left his post in December following four and half years leading the agency which has over 60,000 on its payroll, who work for more than 450 airports.
The TSA has come under scrutiny over a series of serious security breaches, with a new report showing that the agency failed 95 percent of undercover tests carried out by the Department of Homeland Security in airports.
According to the report issued on June 1, agents with the US Homeland Security Red Teams managed to smuggle fake weapons and explosives through checkpoints without any detection in 67 out of 70 trials.
In other similar tests, which were conducted in 2013, the agency employees failed to spot the undercover agents.
AT/AGB
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