25 Years After 9/11: Former DHS Secretaries Say the Department Needs Reform or Dismantling

Twenty-five years have passed since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that reshaped US national security policy and led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Politico has published an examination of what the department has become over this period.

A rare consensus

According to the report, former DHS secretaries who led the department at different times now share a striking consensus: the agency requires major changes. Their assessment is that DHS should either be refocused on its original mission or dismantled altogether.

Such agreement among former top officials is described as unusual, since ex-leaders typically avoid publicly criticizing institutions they once headed. The fact that multiple former secretaries independently arrived at the same conclusion points to broader concerns about the department's current direction and effectiveness.

Context

The article was published on the anniversary of the attacks, underscoring the long-term impact of 9/11 on the structure of the US federal government. Since its founding, DHS has grown into one of the largest federal agencies, overseeing areas including border security, immigration and cybersecurity.

The publication does not specify what concrete reforms the former officials propose, but the shared call for either refocusing or dismantling the department signals significant dissatisfaction with how DHS currently operates, a quarter-century after its creation in response to the attacks.