The Headless Department
What first seemed to be a slam dunk for President Bush and the Department of Homeland Security has turned into scandal and questions surrounding the nomination of a new Secretary of Homeland Security.
Former New York City police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik was merely a Senate confirmation away from taking the post when he unexpectedly withdrew his name from consideration in mid-December.
Kerik officially claimed he was not seeking the post after he learned that he had employed an undocumented worker as a nanny and that he had not paid required taxes.
But an array of other charges and questions about Kerik’s controversial past have dominated news headlines. Newsweek uncovered that an arrest warrant was issued for Kerik as recently as six years ago relating to unpaid bills on his condominium in New Jersey.
The New York Daily News reports that Kerik had illegally accepted thousands of dollars in cash and gifts while a public official. And the Washington Post reports that nine employees of the hospital Kerik worked at providing security in Saudi Arabia accused him of using his policing powers to pursue the personal agenda of his immediate boss.
“I owe the president a great apology,” Kerik told The Associated Press. “This may have caused him and his administration a big distraction.”
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been mentioned as a possible choice, expressed no interest in the job. “I am not a candidate,” he told reporters in New York.
Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who heads the Senate committee that will confirm the nomination, said two “terrific choices” would be Asa Hutchinson, the department’s undersecretary for border and transportation security, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.
Among the names that had been circulating for the post before Kerik’s selection on Dec. 3 were Joe Allbaugh, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and White House Homeland security adviser Fran Townsend.
Kerik’s tough-on-crime attitude drew the attention of President Bush after Tom Ridge resigned in early December. Kerik oversaw the NYPD’s heroic efforts during the 2001 terrorist attacks. It earned him international fame and a role as a special adviser to the Iraqi government, which drew on his help to establish a fledgling police force after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
At press time, the nation was waiting for a new nominee to be chosen to take over for Ridge — who has said he will keep the post until February. The nation’s first Homeland Security Secretary, Ridge was tasked with overseeing the creation of the huge federal department from scratch.
“He was dealt an impossible hand,” Richard Clarke, the former top counterterrorism adviser to President Bush who resigned last year, told The AP.
Bringing and keeping 22 federal agencies and more than 180,000 employees on the same page is something the new secretary will have to deal with as well.
Perhaps Ridge’s highest-profile move as secretary was to create the color-coded threat warning system. Since its inception, the color warning code has been raised from “elevated” (yellow) to “high” (orange) and back six times.
Ridge will be remembered for the terror alerts and his tutorials about how to prepare for possible attacks, including the controversial “disaster kits” that caused last year’s run on duct tape and plastic sheeting. He says he is certain the country is safer today than before Sept. 11.
“We have been guided by your direction to keep America’s doors open and her borders secure… New programs have enhanced security and facilitated commerce,” Ridge told President Bush in his resignation letter. “There will always be more to do, but today, America is significantly stronger and safer than ever before.”