Homeland Security chief touts progress filling senior positions
FEMA is at its highest staffing level this year, but is still falling short of meeting its hiring goals.
The Homeland Security Department continues to fill vacancies for senior level positions - particularly those at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff told lawmakers and reporters Tuesday.
"FEMA had a rough 2005," Chertoff said after meeting with lawmakers. But the agency now has an incoming "good, strong set of professional [leaders]," he said.
Over the past several months, FEMA has tried to bring in seasoned employees and promote senior workers there in an "acting" capacity to full-time status, agency spokesman Aaron Walker said. Nine of 10 regional director positions -- pivotal points of contact for FEMA Director R. David Paulison in the event of a disaster -- have been filled, he said, and the agency aims to fill the 10th position shortly.
"It will be the first time in years that FEMA has had regional directors in non-acting" capacities, Walker said.
Overall, Walker said, FEMA's percentage of open positions that have been filled hovers in the "high eighties," markedly better than where the agency was in May, but short of its goals. Walker said the agency remains committed to filling positions with seasoned personnel, but not on a specific timetable.
"We are not interested in bringing in warm bodies to fill numbers," Walker said. "Sometimes, that search takes a little longer."
Chertoff, speaking on Tuesday, said DHS has "filled virtually all [of its] senior-level positions" but that some turnover is to be expected at any department over a five-year period.
Lawmakers have criticized DHS' hiring, recruitment and retention practices. "We've had problems with personnel" at DHS, and "not just [at] FEMA," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee, on Tuesday. But he recognized Chertoff's efforts.
Last week during a conference call with reporters, Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Chertoff "needs to come clean" on DHS' inability to fill positions.
Despite past tensions, Chertoff and committee Democrats said they had a congenial meeting. Pascrell said the DHS chief agreed to monthly briefings with the House committee during the next session of Congress.
Still, the DHS secretary may face probes from lawmakers. Asked if he felt that Chertoff's increased availability might eliminate the need for future subpoenas, Pascrell replied: "No."