The Homeland Security Department's troubled effort to issue secure identification cards to U.S. seaport workers has experienced new problems, including a dispute between the government and the program's prime contractor over additional funding to resolve technical errors, according to interviews and documents obtained by CongressDaily.

The department is responsible for providing workers who have access to secure areas of U.S. ports with new ID cards under the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program.

But eight out of 12 machines used to produce TWIC cards have been returned to the manufacturer, Datacard Group, for repairs, causing what was a one-day turnaround for cards into a 10-day turnaround, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a letter sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff. ....