Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) is an American attorney who was the second

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the ...

to serve under President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. He was the co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. Chertoff previously served as a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

, as a federal prosecutor, and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He succeeded Tom Ridge as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15, 2005. Since leaving government service, he co-founded the Chertoff Group, a risk-management and security consulting company. He has also worked as senior

of counsel Of counsel is the title of an attorney in the legal profession of the United States who often has a relationship with a law firm or an organization but is neither an associate nor partner. Some firms use titles such as "counsel", "special couns ...

at the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, law firm of

Covington & Burling Covington & Burling LLP is an American multinational law firm. Known as a white-shoe law firm, it is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and advises clients on transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters. The firm has addition ...

. He is also the chair and a member of the board of trustees in the international freedom watchdog

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

, and sits on the bipartisan advisory board of States United Democracy Center.

Early life and education

Michael Chertoff was born to Gershon Baruch Chertoff (1915–96), a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic scholar who was the leader of Congregation B'nai Israel in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Polish–born Israeli American who was the first flight attendant for

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

. His paternal grandparents are Paul Chertoff, a rabbi and professor of Talmud, and Esther Barish Chertoff. Chertoff attended the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth as well as the Pingry School. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1975. During his sophomore year, he studied abroad at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

. He then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, where he worked as a research assistant for John Hart Ely on his book ''Democracy and Distrust.'' Chertoff received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in 1978.

Career

Following his law school graduation, Chertoff served as a law clerk to Judge Murray Gurfein of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

and later for

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. from 1979 to 1980. Chertoff worked in private practice with Latham & Watkins from 1980 to 1983 before being hired as a prosecutor by Rudolph Giuliani, then the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Chertoff worked on

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

and

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...

–related cases. In the mid-1990s, Chertoff returned to Latham & Watkins for a brief period, founding the firm's office in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. In September 1986, together with

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Southern District of New York Rudolph Giuliani, Chertoff was instrumental in the crackdown on organized crime in the Mafia Commission Trial. In 1990, Chertoff was appointed by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Among his most important cases, in 1992 Chertoff achieved conviction of second-term

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

mayor Gerald McCann on charges of defrauding money from a savings and loan scam. McCann served two years in federal prison. In 1993, he was a prosecutor in the fraud case against Eddie Antar, founder of the Crazy Eddie electronics store chain. Chertoff was asked to stay in his position when the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

took office in 1993, at the request of Democratic Senator

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

. He was the only United States Attorney who was not replaced due to the change in administrations. He continued to work with the U.S. Attorney's office until 1994, when he entered private practice, returning to Latham & Watkins as a partner. Despite his friendly relationship with some Democrats, Chertoff was appointed as the special counsel for the Senate Whitewater Committee studying allegations against President Clinton and his wife in what was known as the

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

investigation. No charges were brought against the Clintons. In 2000, Chertoff worked as special counsel to the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

Judiciary Committee, investigating

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

in New Jersey. He also did some fundraising for

and other Republicans during the 2000 election cycle. He advised Bush's presidential campaign on

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

issues. Chertoff was appointed by Bush to head the criminal division of the Department of Justice, serving from 2001 to 2003. Chertoff was the senior Justice Department official on duty at the F.B.I. command center right after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. He led the federal prosecution's case against suspected

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

Zacarias Moussaoui. In 2002 and 2003, Chertoff provided legal advice to the CIA on the use of coercive interrogation methods against terror suspects such as Abu Zubaydah. Chertoff also led the prosecution's case against accounting firm

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...

for destroying documents relating to the

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

collapse. The prosecution of Arthur Andersen was controversial, as the firm was effectively dissolved, resulting in the loss of 26,000 jobs. The United States

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

overturned the conviction, and the case has not been retried.

Federal judicial service

On March 5, 2003, Chertoff was nominated by President Bush to a seat on the

vacated by Morton I. Greenberg. He was confirmed by the Senate 88–1 on June 9, 2003, with Senator Hillary Clinton of New York casting the lone dissenting vote; he received his commission the following day. Senator Clinton said that she had dissented to register her protest for the way Chertoff's staff mistreated junior White House staffers during the Whitewater investigation. Chertoff served as a federal judge from 2003 to 2005.

Secretary of Homeland Security

Bush delivers statement at Mexican border

In late 2004, Bernard Kerik was forced to decline President Bush's offer to replace Tom Ridge, the outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security. After a lengthy search to find a suitable replacement, Bush nominated Chertoff to the post in January 2005, citing his experience with post-9/11 terror legislation. He was unanimously approved for the position by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on February 15, 2005.

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

occurred while Chertoff was Secretary of Homeland Security. The Department was criticized for its lack of preparation in advance of the well-forecast hurricane; most criticism was directed toward 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 Exec ...

. DHS in general, and Chertoff in particular, were criticized for responding poorly to the disaster, ignoring crucial information about the catastrophic nature of the storm and devoting little attention to the federal response to what became the most costly disaster in American history. Chertoff was the Bush administration's point man for pushing the comprehensive immigration reform bill, a measure that stalled in the Senate in June 2007. Chertoff was asked by the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

to stay in his post until 9 a.m. on January 21, 2009, (one day after President Obama's inauguration) "to ensure a smooth transition".

Construction of border fence

Under Chertoff's leadership, the Department of Homeland Security constructed hundreds of miles of fencing along the border between the United States and Mexico. On April 8, 2008, Chertoff issued waivers allowing the Department of Homeland Security to "bypass environmental reviews to speed construction of fencing along the Mexican border". ''The New York Times'' reported that pursuant to the Secure Fence Act of 2006, "the department was authorized to build up to 700 miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile Southwest border, where most illegal immigrants cross". Congress had granted Chertoff waiver authority in 2005, but the ''Times'' described his actions as an expansion of his waiver authority. According to ''Times'' columnist Adam Liptak, Chertoff's action excluded the Department of Homeland Security from having to follow laws "protecting the environment,

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, migratory birds, the

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

, antiquities, farms, deserts, forests, Native American graves and religious freedom." In an editorial, the ''Times'' criticized Chertoff for his use of waiver authority, stating: "To the long list of things the Bush administration is willing to trash in its rush to appease immigration hard-liners, you can now add dozens of important environmental laws and hundreds of thousands of acres of fragile habitat on the southern border." A report issued by the

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

, the non-partisan research division of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, said that the unchecked delegation of powers to Chertoff was unprecedented:

After a review of federal law, primarily through electronic database searches and consultations with various CRS experts, we were unable to locate a waiver provision identical to that of §102 of H.R. 418—i.e., a provision that contains 'notwithstanding' language, provides a secretary of an executive agency the authority to waive all laws such secretary determines necessary, and directs the secretary to waive such laws.

On June 23, 2008, the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

declined to hear a constitutional challenge to the 2005 law that gave Chertoff waiver authority.

Actions regarding illegal immigration

In September 2007, Chertoff told a

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

committee that the DHS would not tolerate interference by sanctuary cities that would block the "Basic Pilot Program", which requires some types of employers to validate the legal status of their workers. In 2008 it was reported that the residential housekeeping company Chertoff had hired to clean his house employed undocumented immigrants.

Post-DHS career

Since leaving government service, Chertoff has worked as senior

at the

law firm of

. He formed The Chertoff Group (TCG) on February 2, 2009, to work on crisis and risk management. The firm is also led by Chad Sweet; he served as the Chief of Staff of Homeland Security while Chertoff was Secretary and also had a two-year stint at the Directorate of Operations for the CIA. The firm also employs Charles E. Allen, Larry Castro, Jay M. Cohen, General Michael V. Hayden and other former high-ranking government employees and appointees. Chertoff was also elected as Chairman of

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

for a three-year term, beginning May 1, 2012. Chertoff co-chairs the

Bipartisan Policy Center The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that promotes bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address U.S. policy challenges. History BPC w ...

's Immigration Task Force. Chertoff was part of a legal team that represented Russian/Ukrainian Dmitro Firtash's against extradition to the United States. Chertoff is also a member of the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

's board of directors. From 2017 to 2019, Chertoff served as a member of the

Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace was a multistakeholder Internet governance organization, dedicated to the creation of Legal norm, diplomatic norms of Westphalian sovereignty, governmental Non-aggression principle, non-aggres ...

and was made a co-chair of the commission in its final year. In a July 2020 op-ed in ''The New York Times'', Chertoff claimed the Trump administration was hijacking the DHS for political purposes.

Views

Globalization

At the Global Creative Leadership Summit in 2009, Chertoff described globalization as a double-edged sword. Although globalization may help raise the standard of living for people around the world, Chertoff claimed that it can also enable terrorists and transnational criminals.

Body scanners

Chertoff has been an advocate of enhanced technologies, such as full body scanners. His consulting firm Chertoff Group (founded 2009) represented manufacturers of the scanners.

Climate change

Chertoff co-signed the preface to the report "National Security and the Accelerating Risks of

Climate Change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

" published in 2014 where he stated that "projected climate change is a complex multi-decade challenge. Without action to build resilience, it will increase security risks over much of the planet. It will not only increase threats to developing nations in resource-challenged parts of the world, but it will also test the security of nations with robust capability, including significant elements of our National Power here at home."

Political endorsements

In the 2016 presidential election, Chertoff endorsed

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

. In 2024, Chertoff endorsed Jon Bramnick for

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Governor.

Selected publications

* (2009) ''Homeland Security: Assessing the First Five Years'' *(2018) ''Exploding Data: Reclaiming Our Cyber Security in the Digital Age''

References

External links

* *
Covington bio
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chertoff, Michael 1953 births 21st-century American politicians American people of Russian-Jewish descent Assistant United States attorneys Atlantic Council George W. Bush administration cabinet members Obama administration cabinet members Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Jewish members of the Cabinet of the United States Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Living people New Jersey Republicans New York (state) lawyers Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey People associated with Covington & Burling People associated with Latham & Watkins People from Potomac, Maryland People from Westfield, New Jersey Pingry School alumni United States assistant attorneys general for the Criminal Division United States attorneys for the District of New Jersey United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush United States secretaries of homeland security United States Senate lawyers Whitewater controversy Commissioners of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace