Ex-FBI Agent Reportedly Will Head TSA

The Obama administration plans to nominate former FBI agent Erroll Southers to head the Transportation Security Administration, the Associated Press reported.

Southers would be the fifth man to run the Transportation Security Administration, which was formed after 9/11 AP said, citing a congressional source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has been made formally, AP said.

Although the nomination is not official, the union representing some TSA workers reacted favorably to the appointment.

The American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement it was “very pleased that the administration has heard AFGE on the dire need for a TSA administrator to be appointed.”

Southers, who would oversee TSA’s workforce of 50,000 airport screeners, teaches at the University of Southern California. A former police detective, he was deputy director of California’s homeland security office, overseeing counterterrorism policies, AP reported.