Traditionally, two of the first Cabinet secretaries considered and confirmed by the Senate are those of the Department of Defense and the State Department. Akaka, Voinovich and others argue that the DHS secretary must be bumped up to top priority, and the secretary should be confirmed on or close to Inauguration Day.
Duke said last week that she believes “our mission merits that,” and a Senate Homeland Security Committee aide said Akaka and Voinovich are committed to getting the DHS nominee through as soon as possible.
“I think Sen. Akaka and Sen. Voinovich are still on track,” the aide said. “But from a structural standpoint, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to speed that along except work with the White House to get their information.”
Yet some on Capitol Hill may not want to quickly confirm a DHS candidate in light of former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik’s troubled nomination. Kerik withdrew his name for consideration in 2004 and was indicted on federal charges three years later. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Homeland Security aide said committee officials would reach out to the president-elect “very soon” after the election, and Duke said DHS staff is “ready to start preparing the nominee immediately,” with both briefing books and knowledgeable staff. Duke said the department aides in charge of preparing Obama’s nominee will have that person ready for confirmation by Inauguration Day.
Inside-the-Beltway chatter before the election listed several possibilities Obama might tap to be his DHS chief, including 9/11 Commission member and former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.); James Lee Witt, former President Clinton’s Federal Emergency Management Agency director; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly; and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D). Napolitano was named to Obama’s transition advisory board on Wednesday.
The 2004 Intelligence Reform law, on the advice of the 9/11 Commission Report, allowed Obama and defeated Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) to begin submitting names for security clearance checks before the election.
At the September hearing, there was some concern about whether the campaigns were moving quickly enough in submitting the names. Because the information is private and submitted only to the Justice Department, it’s nearly impossible to gauge how much that situation was rectified as the election got closer.
“There’s no way of knowing right now really how far along they are,” the Homeland Security aide said.
The TCC met last week for the second time, and the White House said afterward that DHS is already holding conferences and exercises “designed to boost incident management capabilities and cross-department awareness.”
Bush, who has received high marks from government analysts for his administration’s transition efforts, reiterated to Obama on Tuesday night and in a Rose Garden statement Wednesday morning that the president-elect will have his administration’s full cooperation.
DHS is on schedule to take its place as a priority for Obama, and both DHS and Senate officials say they are ready to make sure Obama’s nominee is one of the first Cabinet members to go before the Senate for confirmation.
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