TSA Security Head Fired Over Long Lines In The Airport?

Kelly Hoggan, the agency's assistant administrator for security operations, has been removed from his position, according to an internal memo by TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger obtained by NBC News. The House Oversight Committee confirmed Hoggan's removal from the position.

Darby LaJoye, takes the position who is currently a deputy assistant, who previously ran security at Los Angeles International Airport and New York's JFK.

The decision was made as fliers complain about long, slow airport screening lines. That problem "has many parts," as NPR's Brian Naylor has reported: More people are traveling, and there are fewer screeners.

The May 12 hearing looked into attrition as well as management accountability. The committee says Hoggan received more than $90,000 in bonuses between November 2013 and November 2014, "despite significant security vulnerabilities." Lawmakers accused TSA of surreptitiously giving the payments in $10,000 increments, NBC News reports.

NBC also reports that during the hearing, Administrator Neffenger said that he did not think the "level of bonus is justified," but that he didn't have plans to fire Hoggan.

TSA plans to work on going forward:

"Congress gave the TSA authority to hire more than 700 new screeners, who are expected by mid-June, and the agency is redeploying others. It will also be making additional use of canine teams to help screen passengers, as well as stepping up marketing of the TSA Pre-Check program, which allows passengers who undergo a background check and pay $85 to go through expedited screening."

In an email on Monday, Neffenger said he had put in place a new leadership team at Chicago O'Hare International, infamous for travel delays, and said he had appointed Rod Allison, director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, as the deputy chief of operations.

LaJoye, taking Hoggan's position "effective immediately," has worked as federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.