By Calvin Biesecker

As part of President Obama’s controversial recess appointments over the weekend, nominee Alan Bersin is now cleared to become the next commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Rafael Borras is on his way to becoming the under secretary for management at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Bersin, who was nominated last September to lead CBP, is currently assistant secretary for international affairs and special representative for border affairs at DHS. The border affairs job puts him in charge of developing DHS strategy for security, immigration, narcotics and trade matters related to Mexico. Before that, Bersin was chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

CBP has been without a politically appointed leader since a year ago when Ralph Basham left. Bersin’s nomination is still pending before the Senate Finance Committee.

Borras, who was nominated last June, was approved last fall by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee although the full Senate has not considered the nomination.

Borras is currently vice president of construction services for the mid-Atlantic region with the global engineering services firm URS Corp. [URS]. Prior to joining URS, Borras was the regional administrator for the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. General Services Administration.

The recess appointments are good through the end of 2011. By that time they must be confirmed by the Senate or the positions will become vacant again.

The appointments were made on Saturday, a day after Robert Harding, the administration’s nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration withdrew himself from consideration for the post. “I feel that the distractions caused by my work as a defense contractor would not be good for this administration nor for the Department of Homeland Security,” Harding said in a statement released by the White House.

Harding testified at two Senate hearings last week with no apparent showstoppers (Defense Daily, March 25 and 24). However, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that Harding’s former consulting firm, Harding Security Associates, was listed as a service veteran disabled own business with his disability being the sleep disorder sleep apnea.

Rich Cooper, a principal with the consulting firm Catalyst Partners, in a blog posting called the reported disability “eye-popping.”

“If anything, I find myself shaking my head in complete disbelief that of all the truly serious injures that halt the military careers of our service members, this breathing disorder would be excuse enough to get a multi-million dollar contract,” Cooper wrote of a $100 million award HSA had received from the Army. “What makes me shake my head even more is how someone in the White House personnel shop didn’t ask the same questions the Washington Post did and realize that the answers Harding offered did not pass the snicker test. For as accomplished and distinguished as Maj. Gen. Harding’s career has been, to have it come undone and become the butt of any number of forthcoming jokes about snoring and contract awards is beyond unbelievable.”

Harding was Obama’s second nominee to withdraw from consideration as TSA chief. Erroll Southers withdrew in January.