Secretary Napolitano Leaving a Strong Record at DHS…
With Janet Napolitano leaving as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in September to head the University of California system, Stewart Verdery on Security Debrief says it’s a good time to assess her “third era” at DHS (the earlier two being those of Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff). He gives her credit for building on the Bush Administration’s efforts to make foreign travel less of a hassle, improving the nation’s immigration enforcement capability and helping the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to “grow up.”
Overall, Verdery adds, Secretary Napolitano managed to keep counterterrorism from distracting from President Obama’s focus on economic and domestic issues. Hers has been a pretty impressive four-year tenure at DHS.