Changing of the guard: transfer of power prompts homeland security fears.

• Author: Peck, Sara
• Position: IN FOCUS: DEFENSE AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS - On the transition of powers of the Department of Homeland Security

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* There will be a changing of the guard in January 2009--and it will be a first.

Never before in its short history has the Department of Homeland Security handed off its duties from one administration to another.

"There is a transition period but no honeymoon when it comes to protecting our homeland," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, at a panel discussion. "We do need to work on (some issues)."

Transitional periods have put security personnel on alert in the past. There were fears in the run up to the last presidential race that al-Qaida would attack the United States in order to influence the outcome of the election. One extreme example is the 2004 railway bombings in Madrid that took place three days before Spain's general elections.

Regardless of whether Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., or Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wins the White House, the Michael Chertoff-led administration will need to transfer critical information and keep important personnel in place, panelists said.

In anticipation of this period of uncertainty, Congress requested that the National Academy of Public Administration prepare a timeline for the DHS transition. The 118-page report, released in June, set an aggressive schedule, which included the pre-clearance of top officials, appointing a transition team and swearing in a new DHS secretary on inauguration day.

This fast-track approach did not, however, account for structural changes that the new administration may wish to enact. Addressing DHS' perceived shortcomings might require significant changes.

"You're likely to see a hard look at organization," Parney Albright, former assistant secretary of homeland security for science and technology, who now works for Civitas Group, said at the briefing sponsored by the Homeland Defense Journal. "It's a system that's broken."

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said while the structure of DHS should be retained, the positions must be filled with qualified experts rather than politicians.

"DHS has clearly experienced high and low points in the last six years," he said. "(There have been) delays in bureaucracy, leadership, questionable policies and dubious spending that the next administration will have to address."

Both Cuellar and Langevin, while pointing out numerous DHS inadequacies and organizational problems, maintained that abrupt changes to the existing DHS structure would leave the United States vulnerable.

"I would advise the incoming administration to...