DHS relaunches independent council after ousting Trump-era officials last year
By Geneva Sands, CNN
The Department of Homeland Security has reinstituted its independent advisory council, nearly a year after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas dissolved the existing council, ousting a board of independent advisers that included Trump-era officials.
The new council will be made up of 33 new members, including former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Kids in Need of Defense President Wendy Young.
Other members include: CEO of Girls Who Code Tarika Barrett, Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, immediate past president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Lynda R. Williams and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
“We have policy leaders in different areas, cabinet members from both parties. This is a nonpartisan collection of experts, from whom I will obtain advice, with whom I will share ideas,” Mayorkas told CNN.
Mayorkas said he hopes to hear ideas from the new members about potential initiatives when they have their first meeting on March 21.
The council typically provides independent advice to the Homeland Security secretary, as well as conducts research and provides policy analysis on various security issues. For instance, the 2019 council issued an emergency report on caring for children and families at the US-Mexico border.
DHS is the third-largest department in the federal government with more than 250,000 employees.
In an unusual move, Mayorkas dismissed nearly the entire council that was in place when he arrived. Members at the time included former Trump-era officials such as Ken Cuccinelli and Tom Homan, as well as others like NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier and the Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano.
None of those officials are on the reconstituted council, but both former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton and former administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration Karen Tandy remain on the council’s leadership team. Former director of the FBI and CIA William Webster has remained as the council’s chair emeritus.
Several members who previously served on the council were asked to join the reconstituted group, including co-founder of the Zed Factor Fellowship Carie Lemack, chairman and CEO of The Soufan Group Ali Soufan, head of security services at The Chertoff Group Jayson Ahern, distinguished fellow and president emerita at The Woodrow Wilson Center Jane Harman and Gen. John R. Allen of the Brookings Institution.
Jamie Gorelick, who previously served as deputy attorney general and was a member of the 9/11 Commission, will join as co-chair of the council.
“I want to hear different perspectives from different backgrounds, different expertise, different experience,” Mayorkas said, noting members with expertise in technology, reaching underserved communities, law enforcement, countering evolving threats and immigration.
Asked if he was potentially missing an important critical viewpoint by not including Trump administration officials, Mayorkas said, “This is a bipartisan composition of individuals.”
“This is a bipartisan composition and a nonpartisan effort,” he added.
Last year, when the council was dissolved, Republican Rep. John Katko of New York, the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said it sent a message that this administration has “no intention of upholding a bipartisan, unifying approach to securing our homeland.”
“The HSAC (Homeland Security Advisory Council) is not intended to be an echo chamber for what the current DHS Secretary wants to hear,” he added in a statement.
Mayorkas defended the new council, saying the composition of this council “disproves that quite crisply.”
After the new council was appointed, Katko said he was “pleased the Department took a thoughtful approach to reconstituting the HSAC.”
“I believe that the HSAC appointees will uphold their duty to provide a knowledgeable, diverse set of perspectives to combat the evolving threats of today and tomorrow,” he added.
On Thursday, CNN reported that the Biden administration is preparing for the potential of mass migration to the US-Mexico border when a Trump-era pandemic emergency rule ends, including by forming a “Southwest Border Coordination Center” at DHS headquarters to coordinate across multiple agencies.
In response, Mayorkas said there are a “number of individuals” on the new council “who will bring unique perspectives to this work.”
“We’re looking forward to working with them on it. It’s an important part of our mission,” he added.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to include advisory members who were asked to return to the council and updated with a statement from Rep. John Katko.
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