WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday

confirmed David Cummins, a ​senior vice president of ​Serco

, to head the Transportation Security Administration as

the Trump administration pushes to privatize screeners at

smaller airports.

President Donald Trump in April proposed cutting more ​than

9,400 workers and just over $1.5 billion, or about 20%, from the

annual budget of ⁠the 60,000-employee TSA that handles airport

security operations.

He also proposed requiring smaller airports to use private

security, a move that would cut the TSA payroll by more than

4,500 jobs.