While the Republican-led House balked at the idea of deeper cuts last week in a spending bill for homeland defense, lawmakers did take a shot the budget for aviation security.
"I would like to see much more dramatic cuts in TSA," said Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who argues the Transportation Security Administration has become a classic bloated bureaucracy since being invented after the Nine Eleven attacks.
"It's just spun out of control with 3,700 bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.," said Mica, who pushed through a plan last week to chop out $270 million from the TSA budget.
The 219-204 vote was one of the few wins for budget hawks in the House; but it's probably more of a commentary on the TSA and airport screening in general.
"I'm not a happy camper," said Mica, who skewered the TSA last Friday as his panel released a report that said taxpayers could save $1 billion a year if larger airports used private security screeners instead of TSA agents.
The TSA immediately fought back, accusing Republicans of backing plans that would result in cuts of 5,000 needed airport screeners.
Mica says the TSA should start cutting in Washington, D.C. instead, arguing the 3,700 TSA workers in the nation's capital are making "on average $100,000 per year."
"They've spun out of control," said Mica.
The House also approved a plan in the same homeland defense budget which blocks the TSA from spending money on any plan to allow screeners to unionize.
That restriction was approved 218 to 205.
There's no guarantee that the TSA budget cut or the collective bargaining restriction will ever reach the President's desk, as the plans still must be considered by the Senate.
But it's certainly reflective of the attitude of Republicans towards the TSA, which Mica and others say needs to be reigned in by the Congress.
One interesting note though, is that while there has been a lot of controversy about TSA screening procedures and some of those advanced imaging machines that allow screeners to "see" underneath your clothes - two amendments to basically stop the TSA from using those machines failed by a wide margin.
