Stone To Leave After Brief Term
Admiral David M. Stone, the third person to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the three years of its (somewhat rocky) existence, announced Friday he will step down in June. Officials were mum on the reasons for the departure and plans for a successor. The move could reflect an effort in Washington to diminish the agency’s role, according to The Washington Post. The TSA could be limited to just managing airport security screeners, or it could be disbanded altogether. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is currently undertaking a review of the TSA to be completed in May or June, which is expected to lead to major changes. “We need to step back and look at the billions of dollars we spent on the system, which doesn’t provide much more protection than we had before 9/11,” Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) told the Post. “TSA was something we put in place in an emergency, but it needs to evolve. You could whittle TSA down to a very small organization and do a much better job.” Stone replaced Admiral James Loy as TSA administrator in early 2004.
