Senate clears Neffenger to take over TSA

The Senate late Monday overwhelmingly approved the nomination of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger to take over as the next head of the Transportation Security Administration.    The Senate late Monday overwhelmingly approved the nomination of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger to take over as the next head of the Transportation Security Administration.
   The Senate confirmed Neffenger’s nomination by a vote of 81-1.
   Neffenger was nominated by President Obama for the Department of Homeland Security position in April. He takes over from former TSA Administrator John Pistole, who stepped down from the post late last year to enter academia. Pistole was the longest serving administrator of the agency, which was formed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. TSA has security oversight of more than 400 airports.
   In recent years, TSA has been the subject of numerous news reports of abuse and security failures. Neffenger takes over the beleaguered agency after the release of a critical inspector-general’s report, which questioned its ability to carry out its security responsibilities.
   “Vice Adm. Neffenger will certainly have a tough job ahead of him…The American people will be counting on Mr. Neffenger to validate the trust their elected representatives place in him tonight by pursuing every necessary reform in the wake of such troubling findings,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a statement before the confirmation vote.