DHS' Appointments Problem

Last month, Shane Harris reported in National Journal that the Homeland Security Department faces a tough transition to the next presidential administration because so many of its top officials are political appointees. Now the House Homeland Security Committee is set to report that many of the department's top slots are vacant. As of May 1, 138 vacancies of the top 575 positions at DHS were unfilled. DHS spokesman Russ Knocke tells the Washington Post that the second problem is a result of an effort to address the first: Homeland Security, he insists, created a bunch of top jobs and is in the process of recruiting seasoned managers to fill them.