Number: RL33042
Title: Department of Homeland Security Reorganization: The 2SR Initiative
Authors: Harold C. Relyea and Henry B. Hogue, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, on July 13, 2005, announced a six-point agenda for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designed to ensure that its policies, operations, and structures are best aligned to address potential threats to the nation, both today and in the immediate future. This agenda resulted from what he called a Second Stage Review, or 2SR, which had been launched in early March, just after he assumed office, and had been conducted over the next three months. It involved, he said, "a systematic evaluation of the Department's operations, policies and structures." Indeed, as Secretary Chertoff explained, 2SR involved the evaluation of a variety of operational and policy issues, and among those was "the DHS organizational structure, to make sure that our organization is best aligned to support our mission." However, no report on the 2SR process and proposed reforms was issued. This report focuses primarily on the conclusions and proposals resulting from 2SR pertaining to organization and managerial lines of authority matters.
Pages: 37
Date: September 22, 2006