Transportation Security Administration nominee Maj. Gen. Robert Harding told senators last week that he hoped to quickly transform aviation security by having screeners interact more with airline passengers and moving “closer to an Israeli model.”
That change — and others similar to it — will not likely happen any time soon because Harding withdrew Friday as President Obama’s nominee for TSA administrator, citing lawmakers’ questions about military contracts with a security company he started in 2001 after retiring from the Army.
Harding’s withdrawal comes two months after Obama’s first nominee to head the TSA, Erroll Southers, dropped out, and it raises concerns that the TSA won’t be able to implement or adjust policy at a crucial time in the nation’s efforts to better secure the skies.
Full story: TSA left in holding pattern? – USATODAY.com