House to hold hearings on breach of TSA screening guidelines

The House Homeland Security Committee will open an investigation into a major security breach at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Wednesday.

Earlier this week, someone within TSA posted a sensitive manual on secret airport screening guidelines. The manual was taken down in short order, but the breach has raised questions about whether security practices have been compromised.

"I've asked for an independent investigation," Thompson told Fox News. "We will have an oversight hearing on this matter."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate committee on Wednesday that it appears a private contractor was responsible for posting the manual online, but that TSA supervisors were also responsible for letting the material go public.

She assured senators, however, that "the security of the traveling public has never been put at risk."

Thompson said he wasn't persuaded by assurances that the snafu did not put passengers at risk.

"TSA can try to downplay it all they want to," he said. "Our committee will be committed to going forward with an aggressive review of what happened."

Thompson said the incident highlights that TSA currently has only an "acting administrator," as the nomination for a new chief has stalled in the Senate.

"Clearly the buck stops with the person at the top," Thompson said. "We really don't have anybody at the top to hold accountable at this point because it's been going on for several months now."

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