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 United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11,2001.
The deputy secretary of homeland security is the chief operating officer of the United States Department of Homeland Security,with responsibility for managing day-to-day operations. The department has over 208,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $48.5 billion.
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 and adviser to both the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security for all aspects of DHS administration,finance,and personnel issues.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who has served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2017. He served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019 and again from January to June 2021. From January 20,2021 to February 2,2021 he served as acting secretary of homeland security,during the Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas. Pekoske retired with 33 years of active military service in 2010 as the 26th vice commandant of the Coast Guard.
Mark A. Morgan is an American law enforcement official who served as the Chief Operating Officer and acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from July 5,2019,to January 20,2021.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is a former lobbyist and former American government official who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy,policy,and plans from 2019 to 2021.
Elizabeth Neumann is an American former homeland security official. In the Trump administration she served from February 2017 to April 2020 as a senior advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to DHS Secretary John Kelly and Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke,and as DHS Assistant Secretary for Threat Prevention and Security Policy to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen,Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan,and Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf. She served on the Homeland Security Council staff in the George W. Bush administration starting in 2003.
Donald Trump assumed office as president of the United States on January 20,2017,and his term ended on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Elaine Costanzo Duke is an American civil servant and former United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security,serving from April 10,2017 until April 15,2018. She became acting Secretary of Homeland Security on July 31,2017,when John F. Kelly assumed the office of White House Chief of Staff. She left the acting position on December 6,2017,upon the confirmation of Kirstjen Nielsen.
Ronald Donato Vitiello is an American government official and former U.S. Border patrol agent who served as deputy director and acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from June 30,2018 to April 12,2019. He previously served as acting deputy commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2017 to 2018 and chief of the United States Border Patrol in 2017.
David L. Norquist is an American financial management professional and former government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In May of 2022,Norquist was selected as the president and chief executive officer of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
Kevin Kealoha McAleenan is an American attorney and government official who unlawfully served as the acting United States secretary of homeland security from April to November 2019.
Randolph D. "Tex" Alles is an American law enforcement officer and government official who currently serves as the Deputy Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management and the de facto head of the DHS Management Directorate,under the various titles of both Acting Under Secretary and Senior Official Performing the Duties of Under Secretary. He also served as the 25th Director of the United States Secret Service from April 2017 to May 2019,and previously as the acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection,as well as in the United States Marine Corps,in which he reached the rank of major general.
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an American attorney who served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019. She is a former principal White House deputy chief of staff to President Donald Trump,and was chief of staff to John F. Kelly during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Joseph Vincent Cuffari is an American government administrator who has been the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2019. He previously held positions in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Cuffari was also a policy advisor to Arizona Governors Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey.
Beginning in 2019,multiple appointments of acting officials in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were questioned,on the basis of whether the appointments were legal under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019,the Trump administration did not formally nominate a new secretary to be confirmed by the Senate,relying on acting postings.
Brandon D. Wales is an American national security official who served as the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Wales assumed office after President Donald Trump fired Chris Krebs,and previously served as first executive director of the agency.
The Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. During July 2010 the position's title was changed from Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
