Could TSA fade away like the leaves of autumn?
TSA’s future has not been discussed widely in public forums, but Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., raised the question May 12. “It is not clear to me that TSA should continue to operate as a distinct entity,” a published news report quotes him as saying at the start of a hearing before the Infrastructure and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee. “Are we on a road to further organizational progress and integration? To what degree should TSA exercise authority beyond aviation security?” Cox asked the witness, then-Deputy Administrator Stephen McHale. “I don’t see TSA going away,” says McHale, who designed the organization, watched it grow from two employees to 65,000, and then managed its transition from the Transportation Department before leaving federal service July 23. “The mission has to be delivered by somebody . . . no matter how you organize it,” he says. That mission is to protect the nation’s transportation systems and to ensure freedom of movemen
