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In the dim forgotten days of 2001, 19 terrorists took control of four planes, attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and crashing the fourth plane in a field in Pennsylvania. I’m sure you heard about it, it was in all the papers.Okay, I’m being a bit too cynical – I’m an old curmudgeon. But the attacks of September 11, 2001, hit the U.S. and hurt it, and put us into a war that, contrary to the apparent belief of the current administration, continues today.Everyone who flies anywhere now feels the effects, as they go through the TSA screening...

On the heels of Transportation Security Administration workers flunking a security test at airport checkpoints, the results of a new audit show that -- while the agency keeps a robust system for screening commercial airport workers -- it still failed to flag 73 airport workers "linked to terrorism." Apparently, TSA does not have access to all the terror watchlist information it needs to make those judgments. “The TSA did not identify these individuals through its vetting operations because it is not authorized to receive all terrorism-related categories under current interagency watch-listing policy,” the June 4 Inspector General report stated. According...

The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that he is investigating the leak of classified information from an undercover operation in which investigators were able to slip through airport security with weapons and phony bombs more than 95 percent of the time. “We have started an investigation to determine where the leak was,” Inspector General John Roth told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The information received widespread attention in the news media and on Capitol Hill. Roth told the panel that he had briefed top officials about his findings without the information leaking to the public....

Acting director Melvin Carraway replaced 'effective immediately'The TSA's acting director has been replaced by the acting deputy after an embarrassing report showed TSA agents failed 95% of tests in which fake explosives and weapons were smuggled through security. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says Mark Hatfield will replace Melvin Carraway until the Senate can confirm President Obama's nomination of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger as the agency's next administrator, which he hopes can be done "as quickly [as] possible," reports the New York Times. Carraway—who only became acting director in January, Politico notes—will move to Homeland Security's Office for...

Speaking from the White House Tuesday, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Americans can be confident airports around the country are secure and that President Obama still has confidence in the TSA. "The President does believe the American people should feel confident in traveling airports all across the country because there are security measures in place to protect the traveling public," Earnest said. "The President does continue to have confidence that the officers of the TSA do very important work that continues to protect the American people and continue to protect the American aviation system." "Now, what's also true is...

The acting head of the Transportation Security Administration was reassigned Monday after an internal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security found security failures at dozens of the nation's busiest airports. The breaches allowed undercover investigators to smuggle weapons, fake explosives and other contraband through numerous checkpoints. Melvin Carraway, an 11-year veteran of the TSA who became acting administrator in January, was immediately reassigned to job coordinating DHS programs with local law enforcement agencies, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday night. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Pete Neffenger's nomination to be permanent administrator is awaiting Senate confirmation. Upon learning the initial...

A few weeks ago I had to go back to DC yet again for the Right Online conference and it involved flying in and out of Reagan, as well as Newark. As usual, I stood in the long lines – even with my previous screening check mark on my boarding passes – and went through all the rituals of unloading some of my things and passing through a detector. When I arrived at the hotel I opened my bag to find the usual TSA greeting card indicating that they had searched my checked baggage, no matter how much of...