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Asa Hutchinson, the undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Homeland Security Department, has resigned, according to published reports.

The Associated Press reported that Hutchinson, one of DHS' top officials, submitted a resignation letter to the White House Monday morning. His resignation is expected to be effective March 1.

Hutchinson was the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration for 16 months before being confirmed to the top border protection job at DHS in January 2003.

At his confirmation hearing, Hutchinson referred often to the parallels between the two jobs. He said the DEA job taught him about the importance of gathering "human intelligence," and in his homeland security job he planned to emphasize both collecting and sharing this kind of information.

At DHS, Hutchinson was responsible for overseeing the merger of the Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol into two new organizations: the Customs and Border Protection bureau, which handles border inspections, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, which focuses on law enforcement.

With his oversight of both the border organizations and the Transportation Security Administration, Hutchinson has been in charge of most of DHS' operational agencies and key security projects such as US VISIT, a program to track the more than 35 million visitors who enter the U.S. each year.

A lawyer by profession, Hutchinson was in his third term as a congressman from Arkansas when President Bush chose him for the DEA job. In 1982, when President Ronald Reagan appointed him U.S. attorney for Western Arkansas, he became, at age 31, the youngest U.S. attorney in the country.

President Bush announced on Jan. 11 that he would nominate Michael Chertoff, a federal judge and former head of the Justice Department's criminal division, to be the new Homeland Security Secretary. Chertoff is expected to seek to have input with the White House in filling top jobs at the department.

COMMENTS

• I can't say it any better than several of those who have already posted responses to this article. Hutchinson was one of the WORST things to happen to DHS, as he knew NOTHING about the agencies he and the other ignorant "managers" destroyed to create ICE. Customs should have come over intact, like the Secret Service and the Coast Guard did. As far as INS, it should have been split into enforcement and citizenship services, as many people with REAL knowledge of federal law enforcement advocated. Now Hutchinson, Ridge, and company are abandoning the sinking ship, but not before leaving us with MAXHR, another scam, which was approved just days before Ridge left. I hope they're proud of themselves, because instead of strengthening this country, they've only weakened it. I don't know how they can sleep at night, having created this mess, and then just walking away from it. Meanwhile, the rest of us, who have to deal with this fiasco, and still try to defend this nation, are having nightmares when we think about how vulnerable our country really is. GovExec.com reader Posted February 4, 2005 3:45 PM
• It is interesting that Hutchinson is quoted for his valuing "human intelligence." DHS has no intelligence collection function - either by policy or by virtue of the Homeland Security Act. That function belongs solely to the FBI and their ever expanding intelligence function. There has been no systematic effort under Hutichinson for ICE or CBP to collect intelligence and/or disseminate it within DHS. ICE and CBP have a lot to offer in this regard, but to date, DHS has made no effort to capitalize on its own intelligence collection resources... As a result, the FBI has creasted maritime liaison inteligence positions and it is conducting human smuggling threat assessments... DHS is the greatest fraud perpetrated on the tax paying public in quite a long time. Oh, how I long for the days of $600 hammers... GovExec.com reader Posted January 26, 2005 1:39 PM
• I thought Garcia was only at ICE to bolster his resume, so he can be a hotshot DA and then Federal Judge. Please, please, please don't tell me he's going to stay at ICE. Garcia can't manage his way out of a paper bag and everybody knows it. GovExec.com reader Posted January 26, 2005 12:53 AM