Turns out lying to Congress and having a history of abusing power becomes more serious when your political allies no longer have a filibuster-proof majority with which to approve your nomination.

Erroll Southers, who was censured by the FBI for abusing his power and then lied about the matter under testimony to Congress, has withdrawn his name from consideration to head up the TSA.

The Obama administration’s choice to lead the Transportation Security Administration withdrew his name Wednesday.

In a statement, Erroll Southers said he was pulling out because his nomination had become a lightning rod for those with a political agenda. President Barack Obama tapped Southers, a former FBI agent, to lead the TSA in September but his confirmation has been blocked by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who says he was worried Southers would allow TSA employees to engage in collective bargaining with the government.

Questions have also been raised about a reprimand that Southers received for running background checks on his then-estranged wife’s boyfriend two decades ago. Southers wrote a letter to lawmakers earlier this month acknowledging that he had given inconsistent answers to Congress on that issue.

In an October affidavit for the Senate Homeland Security committee, Southers initially said he asked a San Diego police employee to run a background check on his then-estranged wife’s boyfriend and was censured by his FBI superiors 20 years ago for what he said was an isolated instance.

But a day after the committee approved his nomination and sent it to the full Senate, he wrote to the senators and told them that he was incorrect, that he had twice run background checks himself.

Southers should never have been appointed in the first place, and certainly shouldn’t have still been up for consideration after admitting that he blatantly lied to Congress. Who thought it was smart to place someone with a history of abusing power in charge of an organization with huge potential for power abuse?

And beyond that, he supported placing union bosses in charge of TSA procedures. He wanted the agents unionized and the Democrat-supporting unions essentially placed in charge of deciding what the agents will do and when they’ll do it. Can you imagine a TSA strike? Or, worse yet, union bosses overriding critical national security procedures because they oppose the procedures politically or the agents would have to work harder?

Anyway, it’s just the latest good news for America on this Wednesday.