Obama nominates retired general to lead TSA

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday nominated a new head of the Transportation Security Administration, a retired Army general and intelligence expert who would oversee the nation’s airline passenger screening system.

Robert A. Harding would be the fifth person in nine
years to head the agency and, if confirmed, would arrive as the Obama
administration adjusts security operations in the wake of the attempted
Christmas Day airliner bombing.

The White House hopes Harding can win quick confirmation after months of delays and controversy plagued the previous nominee, Erroll Southers, a onetime FBI agent who recently left his post as assistant chief of airport police in Los Angeles.

“The TSA administrator is among the most important
unfilled posts in the Obama administration,” said Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano, who announced the
nomination Monday. “If there were ever a nominee that warranted
expedited, and detailed, consideration in the Senate, this is it.”

Republicans said they looked forward to meeting Harding but did not indicate whether they would support his nomination.

TSA has been operating under an acting administrator
for months. Republican lawmakers voiced concern over conflicting
accounts given by Southers about a past episode in which he accessed a
federal database to get information about the boyfriend of his
estranged wife.

Southers’ nomination also was stalled by Republican
worries that he would allow TSA employees to have collective bargaining
rights. He withdrew himself from consideration a few weeks ago.

The nomination of Harding comes as officials try to
fix systemic gaps that allowed a bomber to board a Northwest airliner
last Christmas.

In a written statement, Obama touted Harding’s
credentials. “Bob’s talent and expertise will make him a tremendous
asset in our ongoing efforts to bolster security and screening measures
at our airports,” the president said. “I can think of no one more
qualified than Bob to take on this important job, and I look forward to
working with him in the months and years ahead.”

Harding, who would be the TSA’s first black
administrator, has had a lengthy career in intelligence work. He served
33 years in the Army, commanding a counterintelligence battalion in Korea and heading counterintelligence operations at Fort Meade and in staff positions around the world.

He rose to become the Pentagon’s senior human intelligence officer and, later, a top official at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Harding retired as the Army’s No. 2 intelligence official in 2001 and ran his own security consulting company until selling it last year.

The labor question will be among those facing Harding. Officials with the American Federation of Government Employees, the union organizing TSA workers, said they are grateful that the administration had moved quickly to find a new nominee.

Emily Ryan, an AFGE communications specialist, said
that since the administration supports collective bargaining rights,
union officials “would hope they would appoint someone of the same
thinking.”

Homeland Security officials said Harding would meet
with a “broad cross section of TSA employees” and others before making
recommendations on collective bargaining to Napolitano.

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