Rafael Borras

Leadership changes at the Department of Homeland Security have been constant since the organization’s creation in 2003. Turnover at DHS’ deputy secretary and undersecretary for management positions has been especially high.

Though employees said DHS leadership changes have them feeling very or somewhat worried, a majority said the recent shakeups had little to no impact on their daily work and morale, according to a Federal News Network survey of the department’s workforce.

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.

The DHS Office of Inspector General listed nine management and performance challenges for the department in 2015. Better acquisition, financial management, IT and department integration are among the suggestions.

With all of its financial, acquisition, human capital, contracting, asset and security data in one place, as part of a big project known as the Management Cube, the Homeland Security Department is now starting to tackle phase two of that initiative, drawing connections and relationships between all of those disparate data sources. The department hopes having clearer picture of its assets and well-defined processes for data will better align its resources with the department’s five core missions. Rafael Borras, a partner at AT Kearney and the former under secretary for management at DHS, told In Depth with Francis Rose that getting the Cube up and running was one of his major projects

The government contracting community is still wary of the concept of lowest-price, technically acceptable contracts coming from agencies. But the deeper question is, what kind of value does an agency get? Rafael Borras is a senior advisor at AT Kearney, and former Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose government can learn from the private sector how value creation can be an alternative to simple budget cutting.

Deputy secretaries and other COOs give lackluster reviews to the President’s Management Agenda and President’s Management Council in a new report by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Former DHS leaders say you don’t need a shutdown to harm the department. The threat of a partial shutdown is enough to lower employees’ morale and slow down progress.

Still no funding resolution for the Homeland Security Department. It’s set to run out Friday. It will be the second time in less than two years. Rafael Borras was the acting deputy secretary of DHS during the October 2013 shutdown. He’s now a senior advisor at AT Kearney. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he shared his memory of that time with Federal News Radio’s Emily Kopp.

Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president for Public Sector at the Information Technology Alliance for Public Sector at the Information Technology Industry Council, and Rafael Borras, senior adviser at A.T. Kearney, count down the week’s top stories with Francis Rose.