|
Security Beat
Congressman Worried About Power Handoff at DHS
4
2,008
By Stew Magnuson
Rep. Bennie ThompsonRep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, wants to make sure the transition from one administration to another next year goes smoothly for the Department of Homeland Security.
And he sent a long checklist for Secretary Michael Chertoff to look over.
“Planning to implement this critical transition process cannot be handled as if it were a routine exercise,” Thompson said in a letter to Chertoff. Thompson reminded him that this will be the department’s first handoff.
Chertoff told reporters that he was worried about the same issues, the chairman noted.
A major terrorist incident or catastrophic natural disaster in the early days on a new administration, if it is not prepared, “can put the security of our nation, the well-being of the people and the functioning of our commercial sectors at risk,” he wrote.
Thompson noted that there have been reports of “burrowing in” — the practice of political appointees snagging career non-political executive positions in the waning months of an administration. He noted that justifying such practices as a way to smooth the transition process was not an acceptable way to deal with the problem. He asked Chertoff to issue by April 7 a policy directive forbidding the practice.
|