TSA Leadership
In its early days, when the TSA was still part of the Department of Transportation, the head of the agency was referred to as the "Undersecretary of Transportation for Safety." The position was later renamed the "Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration" after the agency moved to the Department of Homeland Security.
Since its establishment in 2001, the TSA has had seven Administrators and six Deputy Administrators. The Administrator's term of office was set to be 5 years in accordance with the 2018 act, and applies to the current director, who has been in office since 2017.
List of TSA acting Administrators and Administrators since its inception:
- John Magaw: January 18, 2002 - July 18, 2002
- James Loy: July 19, 2002 - December 7, 2003
- David M. Stone: December 8, 2003 - June 3, 2005
- Kenneth Kasprisin: June 4, 2005 - July 26, 2005
- Kip Hawley: July 27, 2005 - January 20, 2009
- Gale Rossides: January 20, 2009 - June 24, 2010
- John S. Pistol: June 25, 2010 - December 31, 2014
- Melvin J. Carraway: January 1, 2015 - June 1, 2015
- Mark Hatfield Jr. : June 1, 2015 – June 4, 2015
- Francis X. Taylor: June 4, 2015 - July 3, 2015
- Peter V. Neffenger: July 4, 2015 - January 20, 2017
- Huban A. Gowadia: January 20, 2017 - August 10, 2017
- David Pekoske: August 10, 2017 - Today
The Role of the Administrator of the Security Administration
The Administrator is responsible for approximately 60,000 employees dedicated to protecting U.S. transportation and passengers. The administrator's role is to assess the security details and threats related to the different modes of transportation. The current Administrator is David Pekoske.
Acting Deputy Administrator's Role
The Deputy Administrator is delegated the full power and authority necessary to act on behalf of the administrator and exercises the transportation security jurisdiction that the administrator deems appropriate, as far as the law allows. The current Deputy Administrator is Patricia F.S. Cogswell.