Trump is rapidly remaking the Department of Homeland Security by firing the head of the Transportation Security Administration, David Pekoske, and members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee reported receiving a memo on Tuesday — Trump’s first full day in office — that said the department is eliminating the membership of all advisory committees as part of a “commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”
Under Pekoske the TSA saw sweeping pipeline and rail cybersecurity directives as part of a broader Biden-era push to bolster U.S. cybersecurity. It’s unclear why he was asked to leave. Pekoske was first appointed during Trump’s first term in 2017. He was confirmed for a second, five-year appointment to the role in 2022.
Pekoske oversaw a notice of proposed rulemaking to require pipeline, freight railroad and passenger railroad owners/operators to implement cybersecurity risk management programs that aim to help the surface transportation infrastructure prevent cyber incidents.
It followed earlier TSA cybersecurity rules Pekoske oversaw, as a result of the Colonial Pipeline hack that motivated the former Biden administration to invigorate the U.S. cyber posture in 2021.
Additionally, the Aviation Security Advisory Committee group that had its entire membership eliminated, included representatives of all the key groups in the industry. These included the airlines and major unions, as well as members of a group associated with the victims of the Pan Am 103 bombing. The Aviation Security Advisory Committee provided advice to the TSA administrator on aviation security matters, including the development, refinement and implementation of policies, programs, rulemaking and security directives pertaining to aviation security.
The committee is composed of individual members representing private sector organizations affected by aviation security requirements. The Aviation Security Stakeholder Participation Act of 2014, enacted on December 18, 2014, made the committee permanent. The committee typically meets four times a year and holds a meeting open to the public once a year.
The Aviation Security Committee was mandated by Congress after the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The committee will technically continue to exist but there won’t be members to carry out the work of examining safety issues at airlines and airports. Most of the group’s recommendations were adopted over the years.