Senators seek assurances that TSA will stanch wasteful spending

Leading lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee asked the head of the Transportation Security Administration Monday to prove that the agency has its financial house in order, days after a blistering report uncovered procurement waste and abuse.

"The findings in this report are appalling," Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said in a letter to TSA Administrator David Stone.

The letter was sent in response to an investigation by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general regarding the leasing and build-out of the Transportation Security Operations Center in Herndon, Va., which houses staff for TSA and the Federal Air Marshal Service. TSOC also hosts the National Capital Region Coordination Center.

The IG investigation began after TSA's Office of Internal Affairs and Programs uncovered suspicious practices during the development of the TSOC building, including improper use of purchase cards; a $500,000 expenditure for artwork, silk plants and miscellaneous supplies; and unethical--and possibly illegal--activities by TSOC employees.

The IG report concluded that procurement managers violated the agency's acquisition policies. For example, TSA did not produce paperwork that documented the process or justified the project's $19 million budget.

"The waste and abuse reported here is attributable to wasteful or inappropriate decision-making by individuals who operated with unchecked autonomy that resulted from the determination to complete the project within 90 days," the report stated. "This was a self-imposed deadline. Senior managers, concerned about delaying completion, overrode protests by subordinates, which allowed the project manager to circumvent those rules and regulations."

In written responses to the IG report, Stone and former TSA Deputy Administrator Stephen McHale argued that TSA was under intense pressure to get TSOC up and running in order to manage its federal screening workforce and improve aviation security.

"Compare the construction of TSOC in 90 days with the experience of DHS, which took 18 months to move its operations center from a couple of conference rooms into a second, albeit larger, temporary facility; the planning for a permanent facility has barely begun," McHale wrote. "[The IG] fails to recognize the innovation, dedication, careful thought and hard work that brought the TSOC to life. Reports such as this discourage risk-taking and innovation and reward plodding bureaucracy, no matter the cost in lost opportunity and increased vulnerability."

Collins and Lieberman asked Stone to provide details of the specific measures TSA has established to prevent similar wasteful spending in the future and information on any disciplinary actions taken as a result of the incidents.

The lawmakers acknowledged that TSA faced "tremendous strains" during the developmental stages of TSOC, including the mobilization of 60,000 field employees in nearly 500 locations nationwide and the lack of robust communications capabilities to direct field operations. They said the challenges, however, do not excuse the findings of the report.

"Major decisions were made haphazardly, without weighing all of the appropriate factors, such as cost and requirements," the lawmakers said.