Aviation securityHouse representatives battle for control of TSA

Representatives Pete King (R-New York) and John Mica (R-Florida) are battling for control over jurisdiction of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Currently, Representative King, who is the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, oversees TSA as airport security checkpoints are manned by DHS employees.

But this arrangement makes TSA the single transportation agency that Mica, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, does not have jurisdiction over. To remedy this, last week, Representative Mica introduced an amendment that could place TSA under his committee’s control.

His amendment to cut $270 million from TSA’s budget for security screeners passed 219 to 204 with King voting against it. In addition, the amendment mandates that TSA hire private companies to conduct airport screenings, which would remove DHS from the equation and thereby the House Homeland Security Committee.

During debate of the amendment, Representative Mica said, “I would love nothing more than to have the jurisdiction.”

He added, “I do not have the jurisdiction. I do have jurisdiction for some oversight, which we have assumed.”

In the past, Mica has heavily criticized the agency for not sending representatives to testify before Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. TSA declined to participate stating that the committee does not have jurisdiction over TSA.

According to Muftiah McCartin, the former staff director of the House Rules Committee, the turf battle over jurisdiction of TSA has been going on since the agency was first created.

“Whenever you try to rearrange jurisdiction in the House, it’s a bit of a bloodbath,” he said.

McCartin explained that delineating which committee oversees TSA is a complicated issue as the agency’s functions cover several areas that House committees focus on.

“At the beginning of every Congress, Homeland Security tries to get some sort of additional jurisdiction,” McCartin said. “This was a pretty carefully crafted compromise among [several] committees with jurisdiction, with Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure and Ways and Means all giving up chunks of jurisdiction.”

In a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano dated 12 February 2010, Representative King along with Representative Mike Rogers (R – Alabama), the chairman of the House subcommittee on Transportation Security, wrote, “This letter reiterates the critical need for the House of Representatives to immediately take action and consolidate congressional oversight over the Department of Homeland Security.”

They continued, “We write to urge you to work with the congressional leadership and provide information necessary to help consolidate homeland security jurisdiction in 2010.”

The two representatives noted that the 9/11 commission which suggested the creation of TSA recommended that the agency have “a single, principal point of oversight and review for homeland security.”

In response to King’s letter, Napolitano did not express a preference for which panel should oversee TSA, but did agree that consolidating oversight would be best.

“I have deep respect for Congress’s constitutional role and believe that appropriate oversight is essential to further development and mature the department,” Napolitano wrote in a letter to King on 21 April 2010.

“I am concerned, however, that overlapping hearings, briefings and requests for information from so many different committees take important resources and personnel away from fulfilling our day-to-day operational responsibilities, long-term goals and our critical mission,” she wrote.