White House names McNeill as acting head of Transportation Security Administration

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump medication has tapped a erstwhile White House authoritative to service arsenic the acting caput of the 60,000-employee Transportation Security Administration.

The TSA confirmed connected Monday Ha Nguyen McNeill has been named lawman head and is serving arsenic acting caput of the bureau that provides information astatine U.S. airports and different proscription hubs. In January, Trump forced retired TSA Administrator David Pekoske, whose word did not expire until 2027.

McNeill served arsenic the TSA's main of unit during Trump's archetypal word and antecedently worked astatine the National Security Council and the Office of Management and Budget. Trump has yet to sanction a nominee to caput the agency.

The TSA screened 904 cardinal passengers successful 2024, which was a grounds precocious and a 5% summation implicit 2023.

In March, the largest national worker national filed a suit seeking to artifact the Trump's medication from ending corporate bargaining for astir 50,000 TSA officers.

The American Federation of Government Employees filed a suit claiming the Homeland Security Department canceled a bargaining statement covering TSA officers arsenic retaliation against the national for challenging different Trump medication initiatives.

The suit seeks to artifact TSA from canceling a seven-year corporate bargaining deal, which was enacted past year, and barroom DHS from rescinding it again.

During erstwhile President Barack Obama's administration, the TSA granted officers the quality to bargain implicit definite subjects, and erstwhile President Joe Biden's medication expanded the scope of bargaining successful 2021.

On February 27, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rescinded the directives allowing TSA officers to unionize and directed the bureau to cancel the bargaining statement wrong 90 days. Noem besides said she had asked lawyers astatine the DHS to instrumentality actions to marque it intolerable for immoderate aboriginal medication to assistance TSA workers the close to bargain without enactment from Congress.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast)