--- title: TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers description: The Transportation Security Administration has stopped prosecuting its internal whistleblowers through reassignment, the TSA head said canonical: https://time.com/4328320/tsa-head-whistleblowing-retaliation/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-12T18:56:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:30:51.134Z article:section: Politics og:title: The TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers og:description: The TSA's administrator called the retaliations "illegal" og:url: https://time.com/4328320/tsa-head-whistleblowing-retaliation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06c552d15930feb5/698892fa428a9e525ccd29a7/neffenger-tsa-whistleblowing-house.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: neffenger tsa whistleblowing house og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers twitter:description: The TSA's administrator called the retaliations "illegal" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06c552d15930feb5/698892fa428a9e525ccd29a7/neffenger-tsa-whistleblowing-house.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian May 12, 2016 6:56 PM UTC  Transportation Security Administration Adminstrator Peter Neffenger testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about lapses in TSA screening on November 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. Transportation Security Administration Adminstrator Peter Neffenger testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about lapses in TSA screening on November 3, 2015 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian May 12, 2016 6:56 PM UTC The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has stopped the practice of [prosecuting its internal whistleblowers](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/279691-tsa-chief-says-agency-no-longer-reassigns-staff-in-retaliation) through reassignment, the agency’s head said Thursday. TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee what he has implemented since taking over last year, and cited improving workplace morale, overhauling senior management and enhancing training for screeners at checkpoints, the _Hill_ reports. His testimony responded to a [Homeland Security report](http://time.com/3904473/tsa-security-test-breach-fail/) last year that showed mismanagement and incompetence throughout the organization. Last month, TSA workers alleged in a different committee hearing that top officials in the organization would reassign or force out any whistleblowers who called attention to [reported](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/279691-tsa-chief-says-agency-no-longer-reassigns-staff-in-retaliation) “waste, fraud and abuse.” “I discontinued directed reassignments explicitly,” Neffenger told the panel Thursday. “I don’t tolerate that. It’s illegal, unethical and most of those people doing directed reassignments no longer work at the agency.” \[[The Hill](http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/279691-tsa-chief-says-agency-no-longer-reassigns-staff-in-retaliation)\] TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4328320/tsa-head-whistleblowing-retaliation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4328320/tsa-head-whistleblowing-retaliation/"},"headline":"The TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers","datePublished":"2016-05-12T18:56:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:30:51.134Z","description":"\"It’s illegal, unethical and most of those people doing directed reassignments no longer work at the agency”","url":"https://time.com/4328320/tsa-head-whistleblowing-retaliation/","keywords":["Congress","Transportation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06c552d15930feb5/698892fa428a9e525ccd29a7/neffenger-tsa-whistleblowing-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06c552d15930feb5/698892fa428a9e525ccd29a7/neffenger-tsa-whistleblowing-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"neffenger tsa whistleblowing house","caption":"neffenger tsa whistleblowing house","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4328320/tsa-head-whistleblowing-retaliation/","name":"The TSA Has Stopped Retaliating Against Whistleblowers"}}]}] ```