Part of DHS"s transition plan to the next administration entails succession plans for all its component agencies, and ensuring that the top leadership in each component includes career executives to help preserve continuity of operations before, during and after President-elect Obama"s team takes over the White House, said DHS secretary Michael Chertoff.
DHS"s undersecretary for management, Elaine Duke, is leading the transition. In June, Duke appointed Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Acton as the director for the DHS presidential transition. Acton is charged with implementing the department"s internal efforts and coordinating with new appointees.
Said Chertoff, "We"ve trained and exercised those senior career employees to ensure that each component and office within DHS has capable leadership ready to move up and take the reins during an administration transition, and assist new appointees to be ready on day one."
He also said that in coming weeks and months the transition team would be included in ongoing tabletop exercises as a way to convey to the new administration current incident response procedures.
