By Danny Fenster

Former FBI agent Thomas Raftery is now the Inspector General for the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) for New Jersey and Pennsylvania, reports Fox News. The decision was made at a DRPA meeting on Wednesday, where a former political aide was named the new deputy chief executive officer of the DRPA as well.

Raferty served with the FBI in Afghanistan and investigated the Oklahoma City bombing, according to Fox. His new job, which is also a new position within DRPA, is to try and “clean up the DRPA mess” amid complaints that the organization lacks transparency and engages in patronage, a long held criticism of the DRPA.

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Despite catching flack from critics, Vice President Joseph R. Biden will continue to charge the Secret Service rent for a cottage on his Delaware property so they can protect him, the Washington Times reports.

The paper reports that a Nov. 2 purchase order shows Secret Service approved rent payments of $2,200 a month for the next 12 months.

The Washington Times reports that Biden has been charging the agency rent for a while.

The Washington Times reported that Leslie Paige, a spokeswoman for the Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group, questioned whether Biden should be charging Secret Service if he wants to keep promoting his image as a cost cutter trying to reduce government waste.

“If he’s into the symbolic gestures, this is where he ought to start. He should start literally in his own backyard,” Paige told the paper. “Let’s hear his rationale for why he can’t forgo this $26,000.”

WASHINGTON — States around the country are turning to the Justice Department for help in locating an execution drug, the Associated Press reports.

AP reported that 13 states signed a letter sent to the Justice Department asking for help scoring sodium thiopental after the only U.S. manufacturer stopped producing it and the overseas supplies became scarce.

The states that signed the letter included: Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Justice Department spokeswoman Alisa Finelli told AP that the agency is reviewing the letter.

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By Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON – President Obama on Wednesday nominated four people to fill U.S. Marshal posts in New Mexico, Kentucky, Delaware and Utah.

The nominees included Conrad Ernest Candelaria for New Mexico; James Edward Clark for the Western District of Kentucky; Joseph Anthony Papili for Delaware and James Alfred Thompson for Utah.

“These individuals have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public service throughout their careers,” President Obama said in a statement. “I am proud to nominate them to serve and protect the American people as U.S. Marshals.”

The bios are as follows, according to the White House Press release:

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