John Kelly

It takes teamwork to handle a lighthouse: the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Park Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) are up to the task. More from GSA’s John Kelly.

FEMA may have improperly handed out $250 million in disaster relief funds to Hurricane Sandy survivors who were already covered by their own insurance companies. That’s according to a new audit by Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, which used data analytics tools to spot potential improper payments. The OIG found up to 29,000 Sandy aid applicants may have gotten the payments even though they had insurance. John Kelly, assistant inspector general for Emergency Management Oversight at DHS, talked about the findings with In Depth guest host Jared Serbu.

President-elect Donald Trump is tapping another four-star military officer for his administration. He has picked retired Marine Gen. John Kelly to lead the Homeland Security Department, according to people close to the transition.

Gen. John Kelly, the former U.S Southern Command leader who President-elect Trump chose as his new secretary of the Homeland Security Department, will bring a lot of much-needed operational experience to DHS. But as homeland security experts caution, transitioning from a management role at the Defense Department to a civilian agency like DHS may be a challenge for the nominee.

Current Homeland Security Department Secretary Jeh Johnson’s vision of “unity” will carry into the new administration, as Congress officially codified several of his priorities in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. DHS will have a new strategic planning and policy office, as well as several joint task forces to coordinate activity across the department’s 22 components.

Gen. John Kelly, the President-elect’s pick to be the Homeland Security Department’s new secretary, said he recognizes DHS’ immense challenges and plans to study up on the previous administration’s attempts at management reform.

Congress may reprogram and reallocate resources in the Homeland Security Department, use emergency funding or some combination of both to pay for the construction of a wall along the southern border, said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas).

Lead time and planning efforts for an executive order can vary based on the topic, complexity and urgency, but former Bush and Obama administration officials say inter-agency collaboration is key. But some lawmakers have several questions for the Trump administration about the roll-out of some recent executive orders.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly forged ahead with tough new immigration policies, outlined in a pair of memos. Although President Trump hadn’t yet released his revised executive order on immigration and securing the border with Mexico, Kelly widened the number of people potentially subject to detention and deportation. He reiterated the plan to hire another 5,000 Customs and Border Patrol agents.

President Donald Trump is calling on Homeland Security Department leadership to hire at least 5,000 new border patrol agents and 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers. But existing hiring challenges could make that task even more complicated.