Hearing Report: Senate Holds Nomination Hearing for 11 Positions, including TSA Administrator
June 17, 2026
This morning, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing to consider 11 nominations in two separate panels. The first panel included three key Department of Homeland Security positions, including the nominee for the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. Those appearing on the first panel were:
- Brian Cavanaugh to be Under Secretary for Management, U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
- David Cummins to be Administrator, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
- Cameron Hamilton to be Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
- Hal Duncan to be Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget; and
- Charles Baldis to be Special Counsel, Office of Special Counsel.
Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) expressed concern over the “crowded lineup” for this hearing and that nominees were not provided the opportunity to offer opening statements. With members of the Committee only allowed five minutes for questions, Senators could not question each nominee. Of the DHS nominees, Cameron Hamilton received the bulk of the questions about FEMA disaster assistance. Only a few questions were directed at David Cummins about his TSA priorities.
Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) asked Cummins about the impact of government shutdowns, noting that TSA was shut down three times this fiscal year. Cummins responded that TSA employee morale is quite low right now, and his “number one priority” will be to improve that morale. He further noted that “going without pay for months is not something any American should put up with, especially those protecting our skies and transportation system.”
Chair Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed concern about random searches after a traveler goes through the AIT machine, noting that he believed TSA pats down about “50 percent” of those travelers and questioned how many were due to a false-positive reading from the AIT machine. He asked Cummins to study the data from the machines, and Cummins committed to look into this if confirmed.
What’s Next:
With concerns being raised that not all nominees had completed their background checks and ethics reviews yet, Chair Paul committed not to hold a confirmation vote on any nominee until that vetting is completed.
The Senate Commerce Committee also plans to hold a separate nomination hearing for David Cummins, which will be more in depth than this hearing because Cummins would be the only witness. The Senate Commerce Committee has not yet scheduled this nomination hearing.
Additional Details:
If you would like to watch this hearing, you can view it on the Committee’s website.
