Ever wonder about the responsibilities of the youngest Cabinet slot, the Department of Homeland Security? Paul Rosenzweig posts a review of the job responsibilities on Lawfare:
The ideal Secretary would have a comprehensive knowledge of a variety of topics and a wide-range of personal and managerial characteristics. To be clear, this mythical person does not exists, but as we measure Gen. Kelly (or anyone else) for the job consider this. Among the substantive areas of expertise a Secretary needs are:
- Border security — More than 400 million people cross our borders every year. Most are people we wish to welcome; a few are not. Understanding that problem is likely the principal goal of DHS. Likewise DHS screened roughly 2.5 million containers of goods annually (these are rough numbers, of course).
- Trade — At the same time the border is being secured, the Secretary has to manage a system that permits trade goods and visitors to enter our country for lawful purposes. A world without imports and exports would be nearly impossible to imagine, and every 30 seconds added to screening procedures translates, almost directly, into hundreds of millions of dollars in costs.
And etc etc etc. Paul neglects to measure Trump’s appointee, General Kelly, against the responsibilities.
