President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his transition teams for the federal agencies, including the agency review team for the Department of Homeland Security that will be led by Ur Jaddou, a former chief counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during the last three years of the Obama administration and the director of DHS Watch, which advocates for immigrants’ rights.
All of the 22 DHS transition team members are serving on a volunteer basis, according to the incoming Biden administration’s announcement on its Buildbackbetter.com
website.
Some of the additional DHS transition members include former department officials during parts of the Obama years, such as Peter Neffenger, who served as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, Craig Fugate, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Caitlyn Durkovich, the assistant secretary for Infrastructure Protection, Paul Rosen, chief of staff to then Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Michael Coen, who was chief of staff to Fugate, and Robert Silvers, assistant secretary for Cyber Policy.
Jaddou, who is also an adjunct professor at the American University School of Law and a former chief counsel to the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, said in July that Congress shouldn’t appropriate additional funds for Customs and Border Protection while some of its officers are being used as a “personal militia” of President Trump in some of the nation’s cities in reaction to protests.
Durkovich over the summer co-authored a report issued by the Atlantic Council on the future of DHS, saying the department needs to refocus on non-military threats, morale and management challenges while at the same time putting resources toward its traditional missions of counter-terrorism, aviation and border security, disaster response, maritime security and others. The report also called for DHS to take a stronger leadership role during the COVID-19 and future pandemics.
Biden’s transition team also includes Asha George, executive director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, and a former senior professional staffer on the House Homeland Security Committee.
“The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America’s most urgent and complex challenges,” says an overview of the agency review teams on the Buildbackbetter.com site.
The Trump administration hasn’t given federal departments and agencies permission to work with the Biden transition teams because it is disputing election voting in several states last week.