Current vacancies at the highest levels of the Department of Homeland Security are cause for concern at a department already struggling with management and morale problems, current and former government watchdogs testified on Wednesday.
“In the best of times, DHS is unruly and difficult to manage organization and we are not in the best of times,” said former Inspector General John Roth during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. Vacancies, “particularly those that remain vacant for a long time, cripple the ability of the Department to move forward,” wrote Roth in testimony.
A little over three weeks ago, amid the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, a shakeup in the leadership ranks at DHS left the department with numerous acting officials in top posts and the departure of senior leaders. After the purge in leadership, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan was tapped to take on the acting secretary role, leaving CBP with an acting leader as well.
“This lack of settled leadership contributes to the significant morale problems that are endemic to DHS components,” Roth said in his written testimony.
There are currently acting officials serving in eight positions at DHS that require Senate confirmation, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Asked by committee member Rep. Mark Walker, R-North Carolina, if the leadership gap was “far outside the bounds” of anything he had ever seen, GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, said, “I would say, it’s in the upper areas of concern.”
When it comes to employee morale, Dodaro said that the “optimum is to have a confirmed person in place over a sustained period of time,” although he acknowledged that change is “inevitable.”
DHS has struggled with low employee morale scores since it began operations in 2003, according to GAO. In 2018, the department ranked dead last among 20 large and very large federal agencies.
These top leadership vacancies could also pose a challenge in addressing recommendations that have been issued by the oversight office, according to Dodaro. The recommendations span DHS and include preventing terrorism and administering immigration law.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Roth, who was serving as Inspector General until November 2017, said that “even when fully staffed,” DHS was challenged in meeting its goals and maturing as an organization.
According to Roth, the secretary’s and deputy secretary’s offices are too small to be aware of and effectively manage issues that face the department, said Roth.
The deputy secretary position is currently filled by David Pekoske, who is also maintaining his role as Transportation Security Administration administrator. Roth said this kind of “dual hatting” undermines the seriousness of the agency’s mission.
“The nature and extent of senior leadership vacancies in the department is cause for concern as pervasive vacancies significantly hamper the departments ability to carry out its all important mission,” Roth said.
