Agents for the Transportation Security Administration face punishment, not promotion, for finding flaws in airport security.
“We remain an agency in crisis,” TSA Kansas Security Director Jay Brainard said when testifying for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
Employees struggle to discuss problems with their superiors, too.
“These leaders are some of the biggest bullies in government,” Brainard said.
For all the ridicule, Americans have a generally positive view of the TSA. It might have problems, but it exists to protect American citizens. The agency needs that public support, as its effectiveness has been questioned. Though annual funding reaches $7 billion, the TSA has been woefully incompetent. Tests found that the TSA missed 95 percent of guns and bombs put through airport security.
The blame has fallen on mismanagement and ineffective leaders.
Peter Neffenger, the current TSA head, is being waited out by senior supervisors unfriendly to agency reforms, according to Brainard.
Employees have complained of retaliation for raising safety concerns and accused the agency of asking them to racially profile Somali-Americans in Minnesota.
Those issues haven’t been recent – reformers have advocated changes for years.
“In today’s TSA, too many officers switch off their minds in favor of just finishing out the shift without rocking the boat,” Kip Hawley wrote in 2013. The agency’s cultural problems run deep.
The Government Accountability Office has written dozens of reports on the TSA from attrition issues to building a “results-oriented culture” and strengthening security programs. Regardless, the agency’s woes continue, and public confidence falters as agency opposition to reform grows.
