Airport Security Agency Criticized for Office Costs

The new federal agency in charge of airport security spent more than $418,000 renovating the offices of its top leaders, in what Democratic lawmakers charged Wednesday is an example of government waste creeping into homeland defense.

Rep. David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called on President Bush to rein in the $6-billion Transportation Security Administration, which is rapidly becoming the largest federal law enforcement agency.

In Washington, public spats over office funding usually signal deeper problems. On the eve of the Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday, Obey said TSA’s security blueprint was “chaotic, incredibly expensive and bureaucratically top-heavy.” The Appropriations Committee sets agency funding levels.

Transportation Department spokesman Chet Lunner rejected the Democrats’ contention that taxpayer money was wasted on the renovation.

“This sounds purely political,” Lunner said. Some of the costs involved shielding the offices to handle sensitive security matters, he said.

John Scofield, spokesman for Republicans on the Appropriations Committee, declined to comment on the office reconstruction. However, he said, GOP lawmakers are worried about the agency’s overall spending.

“To be quite honest, there is a bipartisan concern on the fiscal management,” Scofield said. “They are spending at a level that we’re not comfortable with. We don’t view this as a political issue, but as stewardship of taxpayer resources.”

Lunner said the 3,100-square-foot suite houses TSA chief John W. Magaw, his deputy and nine others. The space is on the 10th floor of the Transportation Department building, where Secretary Norman Y. Mineta also has offices. Many other senior TSA staffers have temporary offices in a federal building across the street.

The General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings, has some guidelines for how much an executive can spend on refurbishing a personal office, but none for such an extensive project that involves work space for 11 people, said a spokesman.

Obey is not known as a critic of government spending, said David Williams, a spokesman for the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. “My first reaction is you have to consider the source,” he said.

However, more than $418,000 for new offices sounds “ridiculous,” Williams added. “How do you improve security by having cushy offices?”

A breakdown of the costs, released by Democratic lawmakers, showed the major expenses were $235,260 for construction, $109,490 for audio equipment, $41,879 for phones and communications and $22,481 for security equipment. The security equipment included $826 to replace the front-door lock.

“If you walk into it, it’s not that different from the rest of the building,” said Lunner, the Transportation spokesman. “They had higher requirements. They needed solid walls, not movable partitions. It’s not that exciting a place.”

But David Sirota, a spokesman for the Democrats on the Appropriations Committee, said committee staffers who inspected the facilities concluded that the agency had gone overboard. “It underscores the point that this agency is horribly mismanaged,” he said. “It’s not a partisan thing.”