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-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
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 Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is the civilian national intelligence component of the United States Department of Homeland Security and one of two statutory members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) within DHS, the other being Coast Guard Intelligence. It is the only member of the IC tasked with providing intelligence to state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments, and private sector entities, and developing national intelligence products from information collected by SLTT entities.
The Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis is a high-level civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Under Secretary, as head of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at DHS, is the principal staff assistant and adviser to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security for fusing law enforcement and intelligence information relating to terrorism and other critical threats.
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.
Caryn Wagner was the Department of Homeland Security’s Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis from February 11, 2010, to December 21, 2012. As such, she was DHS's Chief Intelligence Officer (CINT), in charge of the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis with responsibilities over the DHS component intelligence services. She was the first woman to serve in this position, after extensive experience in the U.S. Intelligence Community and on Capitol Hill.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from 2017 to 2025. 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.
Mary Ellen Callahan is an American attorney who served as the Assistant Secretary for the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office from August 2023 to January 2025. She was previously the chief of staff to DHS Deputy Secretary John Tien in the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2021-2023. Callahan had also served as Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security from 2009-2012.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is an American former government official and lobbyist 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.
Kristie Canegallo is a former U.S. government official serving as the acting United States deputy secretary of homeland security (DHS) from July 2023 to January 2025. She joined DHS in January 2022 as its chief of staff. Canegallo was a White House deputy chief of staff for policy implementation from 2014 to 2017.
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.
David Lutz 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 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.
Claire M. Grady is a former American government official who served in areas of national defense and security procurement. She served as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management, as well as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from August 2017 until April 2019. Prior to assuming her the role, she served as director of defense procurement and acquisition policy at the United States Department of Defense. In her previous capacity in the U.S. Department of Defense, Grady was a member of the Defense Acquisition Board.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, coordinating cybersecurity programs with U.S. states, and improving the government's cybersecurity protections against private and nation-state hackers. Cybersecurity is now considered as important part of individuals and families, as well as organizations, governments, educational institutions and our business. It is essential for families and parents to protect the children and family members from online fraud. The term cyber attack covers a wide variety of actions ranging from simple probes, to defacing websites, to denial of service, to espionage and destruction.
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.
Tae D. Johnson is an American law enforcement official who served as the senior official performing the duties of the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from January 2021 to July 2023. The legality of his status as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was disputed.
John Kai Tien Jr. is an American government official and retired United States Army officer who served as the United States deputy secretary of homeland security in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2023.
Jonathan Davidson is a U.S. government official and lawyer serving as the chief of staff of the United States Department of Homeland Security since August 2023. He previously served as the assistant secretary of the Treasury for legislative affairs from 2021 to 2023.
