Donald Trump nominates David Cummins as TSA chief amid staffing concerns

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated David Cummins to head the Transportation Security Administration - which has had a rocky few months as employees went without paychecks and security lines grew long at airports across the country.

Cummins, who worked as a senior vice president at Serco, a government contractor that works with local and federal agencies, would take over a TSA bruised by the longest partial government shutdown in history which ended late last month.

During periods of the shutdown, employees at the TSA, currently overseen by acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, went without pay, thousands didn't show up to work and hundreds quit entirely. It left travellers frustrated over delays and missed flights and politicians pointed fingers over who was to blame for shutting down the Department of Homeland Security.

 

Cummins has experience in transportation at Serco, and says on a LinkedIn profile, which appears to have been taken down, that he was co-awarded a "dozen patents in transportation systems." His profile also touted that he was the director of operations for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.

A spokesperson for Serco did not immediately return a request for comment from Cummins.