United States Secretary of Homeland Security

The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, previously in the Department of Agriculture. It did not, however, include the FBI or the CIA.

Related Topics:
United States Department of Homeland Security - President's - Cabinet - Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 - Plum Island Animal Disease Center - Department of Agriculture - FBI - CIA

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Traditionally, the order of the presidential line of succession is determined (after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and President pro tempore of the Senate) by the order of the creation of the cabinet positions, and is mandated as such under 3 USC 19. However, as of the adjournment of the 108th Congress on January 3, 2005, the Secretary of Homeland Security has not been formally written into the line of succession as it appears in the United States Code.

Related Topics:
Presidential line of succession - Vice President - Speaker of the House - President pro tempore of the Senate - As of - 108th Congress - January 3 - 2005 - United States Code

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In the 108th Congress, the Senate passed a bill, S.148, that would insert the Secretary of Homeland Security right after the Attorney General, in light of the Secretary's security and managerial responsibilities that would make the Secretary more ready to assume the Presidency than, say, the Secretary of Agriculture or Education. A similar bill was debated in the House of Representatives during the 108th Congress, under the designation H.R. 2319; this bill, however, never made it out of committee.

Related Topics:
Senate - Attorney General - Secretary of Agriculture - Education - House of Representatives

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