HOMELAND SECURITY: Secretary Napolitano Moving On

Heading to California

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is stepping down as head of the department to head the University of California system.

Janet Napolitano (Department of Homeland Security photo)

Napolitano – a former U.S. Attorney in Arizona and governor of that state – took over the third-largest U.S. Cabinet department (after Defense and Veterans Affairs) in January 2009. During her tenure she oversaw the response to Hurricane Sandy and Irene. he is always , and decided to ditch the idea of a multi-billion virtual security fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

After four years and hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the DHS plan to pepper the 700-mile border with surveillance cameras and sensors, the program managed to cover about 50 miles in Arizona, so Napolitano pulled the plug.

Napolitano was also criticized for a number of issues confronted by DHS, including what some called “intrusive” passenger searches at U.S. airports and record numbers of illegal aliens repatriated to their home countries.

Napolitano’s announcement is here. She is expected to leave DHS in September.

Within hours of her announcement, the chattering class in Washington was speculating on who would replace Napolitano as overseer of the hudge agency which includes Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Department of Homeland Security seal

Among the names being bandied about are:

Thad Allen, former Coast Guard commandant who oversaw the cleanup and response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico;

Raymond Kelly, head of New York City’s police department – the largest in the country — and former head of the U.S. Customs Service;

William Bratton, former head of the police departments in Boston, New York City and Los Angeles.

Other names include former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman and John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration.