The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

, the federal department tasked with ensuring

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The secretary is a member of the

Cabinet of the United States The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to ...

. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the

attacks of September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other Cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

, the Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (which includes the United States Border Patrol), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which includes Homeland Security Investigations), the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

and the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

. It does not, however, include the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

or the U.S. Marshals Service. They continue to operate under

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

. The current secretary of homeland security is

Alejandro Mayorkas Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas (born November 24, 1959) is a Cuban-American government official and attorney who has been serving as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security since February 2, 2021. During the Obama administration, ...

, since February 2, 2021. He is the first Latino and immigrant to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

List of secretaries of homeland security

Prior to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, there existed an assistant to the president for the Office of Homeland Security, which was created following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

in 2001. Parties (5) (3) (4) Status a. James Loy served as acting secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. b. Rand Beers served as acting secretary in his capacity as confirmed Undersecretary of Homeland Security for National Protection and Programs and Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; Beers was the highest ranking Senate-approved presidential appointee at the Department of Homeland Security. c. Elaine Duke served as acting secretary in her capacity as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. d. Kevin McAleenan served as acting secretary in his capacity as Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. His tenure was ruled unlawful. e. Chad Wolf served as acting secretary in his capacity as Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy, and Plans. His tenure was ruled unlawful. f. Peter Gaynor served as acting secretary in his capacity as

Administrator. g. David Pekoske served as acting secretary in his capacity as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

Order of succession

While appointment of acting officials is generally governed by the

Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (commonly called the Vacancies Act) ( ''et seq.'') is a United States federal statute establishing the procedure for filling vacancies in an appointed office of an executive agency of the government be ...

(FVRA), the Homeland Security Act of 2002 creates exceptions to FVRA, mandating that the

under secretary of homeland security for management The Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Under Secretary, as head of the Management Directorate at DHS, is the principal staff assistant an ...

is third in the line of succession for Secretary of Homeland Security, and establishes an alternate process by which the secretary can directly establish a line of succession outside the provisions of the FVRA. As of November 8, 2019, the order of succession is as follows. However, the legality of this update was challenged. # Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security # Under Secretary for Management # Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection # Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans # Administrator and Assistant Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration # Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Formerly, an April 10, 2019 update to the DHS Orders of Succession, made pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, provided a different order in the case of unavailability to act during a disaster or catastrophic emergency: # Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security # Under Secretary for Management # Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection # Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency # Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency # Under Secretary for Science and Technology # Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis # Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration # Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement # Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services # Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans # General Counsel # Deputy Under Secretary for Management # Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection # Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration # Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement # Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services # Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers As a result of Executive Order 13753 in 2016, the order of succession for the secretary of homeland security was as follows: # Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security # Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management # Administrator of the

Under Secretary of Homeland Security for National Protection and Programs The Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Director, as head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS, is the p ...

# Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology # Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis #Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection #Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration #Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement #Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services # Assistant Secretary for Policy #General Counsel of the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

#Deputy Under Secretary for Management #Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection #Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration #Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement #Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services #Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

Administration-cited potential nominees

Bernard Kerik

George W. Bush nominated

Bernard Kerik Bernard Bailey Kerik (born September 4, 1955) is an American consultant and former police officer who was the 40th Commissioner of the New York Police Department from 2000 to 2001. As a convicted felon, he obtained a presidential pardon from Pre ...

for the position in 2004. However a week later, Kerik withdrew his nomination, explaining that he had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny.

Raymond Kelly

By July 2013,

Raymond Kelly Raymond Walter Kelly (born September 4, 1941) is the longest serving Commissioner in the history of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the first man to hold the post for two non-consecutive tenures. According to its website, Kelly � ...

had served as Commissioner of the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

(NYPD) for nearly 12 straight years. Within days of Homeland Security secretary

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and university administrator who served as the 21st governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009 and third United States secretary of homeland security from 2009 to 20 ...

's announcement that she was resigning, Kelly was soon cited as an obvious potential successor by New York senator Charles Schumer and others. During a July 16, 2013, interview, President Obama referred generally to the "bunch of strong candidates" for nomination to head the

, but singled out Kelly as "one of the best there is" and "very well qualified for the job". Later in July 2013, the online internet news website/magazine '' Huffington Post'' detailed "a growing campaign to quash the potential nomination of New York City Police commissioner Raymond Kelly as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security" amid claims of "divisive, harmful, and ineffective policing that promotes stereotypes and profiling". Days after that article, Kelly penned a statistics-heavy ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' opinion article defending the NYPD's programs, stating "the average number of stops we conduct is less than one per officer per week" and that this and other practices have led to "7,383 lives saved—and... they are largely the lives of young men of color.""Ray Kelly: The NYPD: Guilty of Saving 7,383 Lives"
by Ray Kelly, ''Opinion: The Wall Street Journal'', July 22, 2013, retrieved August 4, 2013. Kelly was also featured because of his NYPD retirement and unusually long tenure there in a long segment on the CBS News program '' Sunday Morning'' in December 2013, especially raising the question of the controversial "stop and frisk" policy in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and the long decline and drop of various types of crimes committed.

References

External links

* , - {{Navboxes , list = {{USSecHS {{DHS agencies {{US military navbox {{US Cabinet leaders {{US Presidential Line of Succession

Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...

Interior ministers