Re-Thinking Homeland Security

Three weeks ago a mob incited by then President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol building and tried to stop the certification of electoral college votes that officially made Joe Biden our 46th President.

That mob failed.

But five people died, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, the fourth member of that force killed in the line of duty since its founding more than 200 years ago. The chief of the US Capitol Police (USCP) resigned the next day, as did the Sergeants at Arms for the House and Sentate, two of three members of the board that oversees the USCP. The finger pointing over which of the myriad local and federal agencies responsible for security in Washington, DC, was to blame for the most serious assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812 began in earnest.

A few days after the attack ABC News reported the Trump Administration cut operations and staffing at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis last year. “At least two critical intelligence-gathering programs were essentially shuttered, and the office’s routine of issuing planning bulletins to police in advance of major public events was all but terminated.” No plans were made to counter the expected January 6th protests “as would have been done in the past.”

If a reduction in operations and staffing in one office within one cabinet department can lead to a security failure such as we witnessed January 6th, it’s time to reconsider structure and role of that department.

DHS is huge. Twenty-two agencies. 240,000 employees. Only the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs are larger. Some of it makes DHS sense: US Customs and Border Protection, for example; but, some of it does not, e.g. the Coast Guard is the only military branch not part of DoD. The Secret Service did fine as part of Treasury for 150-odd years: separating the agency responsible for transportation security (TSA) from the agency responsible for transportation simply defies logic.

It’s worth remembering DHS was created following the 911 attacks specifically to centralize “the current confusing patchwork of government activities into a single department whose primary mission is to protect our homeland.” But the threats we face today are very different than those of 20 years ago. According the FBI, the greatest threat to the security of the United States comes from Domestic Violent Extremists: “individuals who commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as racial bias and anti-government sentiment.”

The Department of Homeland Security failed to anticipate the events of January 6th despite tens of thousands of social media posts foreshadowing what happened. Perhaps its time to reconsider the role, function and make-up of DHS.

Our security may depend on it.