Remembering Forgotten Agencies

It's with a combination of relief and exasperation that I've been reading all the stories about how yet another attempt to attack a U.S.-bound airplane have made lawmakers remember that the Transportation Security Administration really ought to get confirmed administrator at some point. I'm relieved because of course TSA needs an administrator, and it's not only because some dude tried--and failed--to set off an explosive device he had hidden in his pants. The Department of Homeland Security has largely punted on the question of whether TSA workers should be extended collective bargaining rights, leaving that for a future TSA administrator to determine; big questions about workforce attrition, scheduling, and performance management remain; and the agency is trying to move forward with technological upgrades that are sparking civil liberties debate. In other words, even if Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had never headed for Detroit, there would still be critical questions of TSA's operations for a new agency head to grapple with.

And the reason that I'm frustrated is that it seems astonishingly easy for lawmakers responsible for confirming these folks to forget that those critical operational issues exist--not just in TSA but in many agencies--until something (that may or may not be linked to those operational issues) goes wrong. It makes vastly more sense to get these people in as soon as possible, so they can start work on these issues, then to delay forever, and face an enormous hullaballoo because they aren't in place to address something that went wrong.

Look, I've been to my fair share of confirmation hearings at this point. And the truth is, they don't take a huge amount of time. The nominees submit a huge amount of information in writing in advance, that committee staff and Senators can review. For most positions (other than Cabinet Secretaries, for example), only a couple of Senators show up, giving them each plenty of time and space to grill the nominees in, at most, a couple of hours. There's really no conflict between all deliberate speed and due diligence on these nominees. And there's no reason that a year into the Obama administration, an agency as vital as politicians have suddenly decided TSA is shouldn't have an administrator.