NAPOLITANO STEPS DOWN FROM DHS
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced her resignation Friday to take over the University of California system, leaving behind a huge department still working to adjust to the merger of nearly two dozen agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The former Arizona governor came to President Barack Obama’s Cabinet with plans to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, and she is leaving in the midst of a heated battle in Congress over how — or if — that overhaul will be accomplished.
The most frequent contact by most Americans is with the department’s Transportation Security Administration screeners at airports. But its charter is much broader: It comprises agencies that protect the president, respond to disasters and enforce immigration laws as well as secure air travel. It in- cludes the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection as well as TSA.
Like the department Napolitano has been runnnig, the University of California system is a giant, multilayered organization, though with a far different mission. Her appointment, which still must be confirmed by the system’s board of regents, could triple Napolitano’s salary from $199,700 to around $600,000. She said she would stay on as secretary until early September.
“Janet’s portfolio has included some of the toughest challenges facing our country,” Obama said in a statement Friday. “She’s worked around the clock to respond to natural disasters, from the Joplin tornado to Hurricane Sandy, helping Americans recover and rebuild.”
Names of possible successors began f loating immediately. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called the White House to pitch New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, saying, “We need someone just as good who can fill (Napolitano’s) shoes.”