Erroll Southers, the Los Angeles airport official whose nomination to lead the Transportation Security Administration was blocked by Republican opposition in Washington, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

Southers, in a statement issued Wednesday, complained that his nomination had become a political lightning rod.

President Obama nominated Southers, who is a former FBI agent with experience in counter-terrorism, to head the TSA in September. But Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who complained that Southers hoped to make good on an Obama pledge to allow TSA workers to join unions, had placed a hold on Southers’ confirmation by the Senate.

Southers also had faced questions over an event years ago, when he had ordered criminal background checks on the boyfriend of his estranged wife. He acknowledged in a letter to senators that it was wrong and he regretted the incident. He had been censured by his FBI superiors for the action 20 years ago.

• Read the full Los Angeles Times story.