TSA

Both Democrats and Republicans at a committee hearing criticized and praised the Transportation Security Administration's airport security procedures.

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole will face another committee of lawmakers this week as the agency recovers from the latest firestorm about its airport security procedures.

Pistole will appear Wednesday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to update lawmakers on TSA's current procedures, including its new Pre-Check known-traveler program and its behavior detection efforts. 

Pistole recently delivered a similar update before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during a hearing called to examine aviation security a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

The head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), one of the least popular federal agencies, will testify next week before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on his agency’s most “recent efforts.” 

John Pistole’s testimony comes at a time when the TSA has continued to draw criticism for allowing weapons through airport security and for the inappropriate conduct of some of its agents. 

Airline passengers could try to bring illegal items through airport security because they forgot they were left in their winter clothing from last year, the Transportation Security Administration said this week as it issued a reminder about checking them.

In a post on its blog, TSA said it uncovered a steak knife, a hunting knife, a butterfly knife, gun ammunition and a loaded gun in carry-on luggage on Halloween. The agency, which usually spotlights its findings online, said that there is usually an uptick this time of year when temperatures are dropping and passengers are wearing more layers of clothes.

"Now that the fall season is arriving, it’s likely that many of you are camping, hunting, hiking, etc," the agency wrote. "There’s a good chance the last time you wore your fall coat or used your knapsack was on a hunting or fishing trip, and maybe you left a knife or some ammunition tucked away in one of those handy-dandy compartments.

Lieberman has sent a series of tweets saying TSA’s often-criticized procedures are necessary to keep the aviation system safe.

The Transportation Security Administration's known-traveler program is being received favorably during testing, TSA chief John Pistole told a Senate committee Thursday.

TSA has been testing its Pre-Check program, in which passengers volunteer information for the program in exchange for the possibility of receiving expedited screening.

Participation in the program thus far has been limited to a few airports, including Boston's Logan Airport and Detroit's Metro International Airport, and passengers on Delta and American Airlines.

But Pistole said Wednesday that the program has been successful thus far.

"Transportation Security Officers in the four pilot airports are receiving very positive feedback from TSA Pre-Check travelers while the two partner airlines have successfully demonstrated the technical capabilities required to participate in the program, thus paving the way for other airlines to follow," Pistole said in testimony submitted to the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "As we learn from these pilots, we are working closely with other airlines and airports to determine when they may be operationally ready to join.

Democrats in the House of Representatives sharply criticized the Transportation Security Administration Tuesday for postponing a deadline for scanning all cargo aboard airplanes that had been scheduled for December.

The ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Tuesday was the anniversary of the terrorist plot that prompted TSA to set the deadline, which showed why it should have been kept.

“With the marking of the one-year anniversary of an air cargo terrorist plot, launched by an al Qaeda terrorist affiliate in Yemen – TSA should be working steadfastly and aggressively to get international agreements in place to ensure that all cargo loaded on planes bound for the U.S. is screened—as required under the law,” Thompson said in a statement. “As a nation, we must not lose momentum on closing this known security vulnerability.”

The TSA frequently finds itself battling firestorms sparked by tweets or videos from angry passengers.

The Transportation Security Administration worker who left a sexual note for a passenger will be fired, the agency said Friday.

The airline passenger who was left a sexually tinged note by a Transportation Security Administration employee said this week that the reprimand of the employee was not enough.

The TSA said Tuesday that one of its employees at Newark, N.J.’s Liberty International Airport had been removed from baggage-handling duties after he left a note in New York blogger Jill Filipovic’s bag, which reportedly contained a sex toy, that stated “Get her freak on girl.” Filipovic, who is also a lawyer, tweeted a picture of the note, which was written on a TSA notice of inspection.

She said after the TSA’s announcement of its response to the incident that the problem was bigger than one airport security employee.

“It’s easy to scapegoat one individual here, but the problem with the note is that it’s representative of the bigger privacy intrusions that the U.S. government, through the TSA and other sources, levels every day,” she wrote on her blog late Tuesday evening.