Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has sacked almost all members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) – the agency’s most recent sign of its intention to deviate from the practices of the previous administration.
Mayorkas, in a letter sent Friday and obtained by the Politico, told the commission that he is ending the mandates of the 32 current members and that he intends to “reconstitute” the council as soon as a “new model” is developed.
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HSAC was created for unpaid members to use their experience and knowledge on internal security issues, such as counterterrorism and immigration enforcement, to offer guidance to the secretary.
Its current members include Trump-era officials, such as former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Chad Wolf, former DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli and former Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan – but they include those appointed by secretaries by Democrats and Republican administrations.
Mayorkas said that President William Bratton, Vice President Karen Tandy and President Emeritus William Webster will remain in office to help the council move forward.
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“I am considering how HSAC can bring the greatest value to the Department and how the experience, judgment and advice of its members can be used more effectively to further the Department’s mission,” he said. “I look forward to working closely with HSAC and counting on its members to help guide the Department through a period of change.”
The agency said Mayorkas will conduct a “comprehensive review” to find out how the board can be used to advise the department – and will launch a redesigned HSAC with “diverse members” representing the country. He also emphasized that it would be bipartisan.
Wolf criticized the move in a tweet.
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“While I respect the right of a DHS Secretary to change HSAC to suit his needs, dismissing the entire board at once and interrupting a lot of important work (which was underway) is not the right approach,” he wrote.
House Committee Internal Security Committee member John Katko, RN.Y. also criticized the move, saying it was a sign that the government “has no intention of defending a unified and bipartisan approach to protecting our homeland” .
“It is a pity that Secretary Mayorkas has removed these respected homeland security leaders who have dedicated their careers to strengthening our homeland security posture,” he said in a statement. “I would recommend the secretary to take a careful approach when reconstituting HSAC and being attentive to the message he intends to send.”
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The shift comes at a time when DHS is in the spotlight due to the dramatic escalation of the crisis on the southern border, which left the government struggling to deal with the influx of migrants. Critics blamed the increase in the reversal of Trump-era border protections, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).
DHS and Health and Human Services (HHS) recently made calls for federal employees to volunteer for the increase – but the government refused to call the situation “crisis”, instead called it “challenge”.