The Transportation Security Administration made an eleventh-hour deal to buy $50 million worth of new uniforms for its agents — sealing the deal as the nation braced for the budget-smashing sequester, CNS News reports.
And incredibly, as the nation continues to struggle with the outsourcing of manufacturing to countries outside the United States, it turns out the uniforms will be partially made in Mexico.
The TSA’s new one-year uniform contract with VF Imagewear — which owns the Lee and Wrangler Hero clothing brands — was announced just two days before the sequester kicked in, according to CNS News.
The sizable clothing outlay comes on the heels of Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s caution that airline passengers should expect long lines at some security checkpoints — a fact of life that will only get worse as sequestration sets in in the coming weeks.
The timing of the massive uniform purchase has some news sites — including the conservative blog HotAir.com — on the warpath.
“While you’re waiting in those longer lines that may or may not exist, you’ll have extra time to admire the new uniforms TSA bought just before the sequester hit,’’ wrote HotAir’s Ed Morrissey.
“The most interesting part of this development is the fact that TSA only provides the initial uniforms for new hires. TSA employees have to pay for their own replacements.
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