By Laura H. Kahn
Congress created the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a massive cabinet-level agency that consolidated 22 departments and agencies and almost 200000 federal employees.
Its goal was to improve domestic security coordination and communication.
The restructuring was the largest reorganization of the federal government since the late 1940s when President Harry Truman and Congress created the
CIA Defense Department and
National Security Council.
Although reorganizing bureaucracy is a typical governmental response to a disaster such as 9/11 in this case growing evidence suggests that placing so many disparate agencies and departments under one roof has created more problems than it has solved. So with a new administration in place now is the time to reexamine Homeland Securitys structure and make the necessary changes to ensure it can effectively prevent future terrorist attacks and mitigate the results of natural disasters.
Many of the challenges that Homeland Security faces derive from its broad (read: ill-defined) mandate. Currently DHS oversees Citizenship and Immigration Services; the Coast Guard; Customs and Border Protection; the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the National Cyber Security Center; Secret Service; and Transportation Security Administration.
And this list doesnt include the directors secretaries undersecretaries and others housed in the department. Nor does it take into account the external agencies and departments Homeland Security must coordinate with (the CIA FBI DEA and Health and Human Services among others).
Such a veritable smorgasbord of bureaucracy has led to continual inter- and intra-agency conflict. For example Homeland Security and the Justice Department which includes the FBI and DEA both are tasked with gathering intelligence and sharing it with state and local law enforcement officials. Its no surprise then that there are turf battles.
The response to Hurricane Katrina illustrated the interagency rift vividly as DHS and FBI officials fought over which would play a lead role in safety and law enforcement. The most sensible solution would be for DHS to get out of the intelligence business giving the Justice Department sole responsibility for intelligence gathering analysis and transmittal of safety information to state and local law enforcement officials thereby hopefully reducing interagency conflict competition for funding and leadership battles.
Cyber security suffers from similar interagency problems. Homeland Security is responsible for most of it but the National Security Agency (NSA) is responsible for military cyber security specifically and would like to take some of Homeland Securitys cyber security duties. (See NSA Dominating Cybersecurity; DHS Official Quits Warning of Bad Strategy.)
Notably cyber security is considered such an important issue that President Barack Obama recently created an office of cyber security and is expected to appoint a cyber czar who will report directly to him and who will sit on the National Security Council.
Whether this position will create further conflict and how it will relate to the Homeland Security cyber security chief remains to be seen. But we should recall that a recent DHS cyber security chief resigned because of turf battles and funding difficulties. Although it isnt entirely clear which agency should have primary responsibility for cyber security given the decentralized and amorphous nature of the internet it might be beneficial to have oversight responsibility spread across several different agencies so that they can each provide their unique expertise.
A third conflict is between FEMA (part of Homeland Security) the Office for Domestic Preparedness (part of the Justice Department) and the Department of Health and Human Services (part of the cabinet).
Homeland Security and FEMA are responsible for responding to disasters such as hurricanes and terrorist attacks; but despite spending millions of dollars on massive emergency response exercises they are still considered poorly prepared because of weak coordination with state and local governments and a broken national preparedness drill system. (See the New York Times op-ed All Disasters Are Local.)
An April Government Accountability Office report PDF found among other deficiencies that FEMA lacks a strategic plan for its national preparedness system that specifies clear and measurable objectives. Nor has it established a program-management plan that defines how preparations will be planned executed monitored and controlled in coordination with other federal departments and agencies.
Read the rest of this article HERE
*This story is from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a massive cabinet-level agency that consolidated 22 departments and agencies and almost 200000 federal employees.
Its goal was to improve domestic security coordination and communication.
The restructuring was the largest reorganization of the federal government since the late 1940s when President Harry Truman and Congress created the CIA Defense Department and National Security Council.
Although reorganizing bureaucracy is a typical governmental response to a disaster such as 9/11 in this case growing evidence suggests that placing so many disparate agencies and departments under one roof has created more problems than it has solved. So with a new administration in place now is the time to reexamine Homeland Securitys structure and make the necessary changes to ensure it can effectively prevent future terrorist attacks and mitigate the results of natural disasters.
Many of the challenges that Homeland Security faces derive from its broad (read: ill-defined) mandate. Currently DHS oversees Citizenship and Immigration Services; the Coast Guard; Customs and Border Protection; the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the National Cyber Security Center; Secret Service; and Transportation Security Administration.
And this list doesnt include the directors secretaries undersecretaries and others housed in the department. Nor does it take into account the external agencies and departments Homeland Security must coordinate with (the CIA FBI DEA and Health and Human Services among others).
Such a veritable smorgasbord of bureaucracy has led to continual inter- and intra-agency conflict. For example Homeland Security and the Justice Department which includes the FBI and DEA both are tasked with gathering intelligence and sharing it with state and local law enforcement officials. Its no surprise then that there are turf battles.
The response to Hurricane Katrina illustrated the interagency rift vividly as DHS and FBI officials fought over which would play a lead role in safety and law enforcement. The most sensible solution would be for DHS to get out of the intelligence business giving the Justice Department sole responsibility for intelligence gathering analysis and transmittal of safety information to state and local law enforcement officials thereby hopefully reducing interagency conflict competition for funding and leadership battles.
Cyber security suffers from similar interagency problems. Homeland Security is responsible for most of it but the National Security Agency (NSA) is responsible for military cyber security specifically and would like to take some of Homeland Securitys cyber security duties. (See NSA Dominating Cybersecurity; DHS Official Quits Warning of Bad Strategy.)
Notably cyber security is considered such an important issue that President Barack Obama recently created an office of cyber security and is expected to appoint a cyber czar who will report directly to him and who will sit on the National Security Council.
Whether this position will create further conflict and how it will relate to the Homeland Security cyber security chief remains to be seen. But we should recall that a recent DHS cyber security chief resigned because of turf battles and funding difficulties. Although it isnt entirely clear which agency should have primary responsibility for cyber security given the decentralized and amorphous nature of the internet it might be beneficial to have oversight responsibility spread across several different agencies so that they can each provide their unique expertise.
A third conflict is between FEMA (part of Homeland Security) the Office for Domestic Preparedness (part of the Justice Department) and the Department of Health and Human Services (part of the cabinet).
Homeland Security and FEMA are responsible for responding to disasters such as hurricanes and terrorist attacks; but despite spending millions of dollars on massive emergency response exercises they are still considered poorly prepared because of weak coordination with state and local governments and a broken national preparedness drill system. (See the New York Times op-ed All Disasters Are Local.)
An April Government Accountability Office report PDF found among other deficiencies that FEMA lacks a strategic plan for its national preparedness system that specifies clear and measurable objectives. Nor has it established a program-management plan that defines how preparations will be planned executed monitored and controlled in coordination with other federal departments and agencies.
Read the rest of this article HERE
*This story is from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
