Napolitano Stepping Down as Homeland Security Chief By PETER BAKER and TAMAR LEWIN Published: July 12, 2013 WASHINGTON — Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, announced Friday that she was stepping down, setting off a search to fill one of the most challenging positions in government at a time when the Obama administration is struggling to get a team in place for the president’s second term. Ms. Napolitano, a former Arizona governor who for four and a half years shaped the administration’s response to hurricanes, terrorist attacks, illegal immigration and a catastrophic oil spill, will leave in September to become president of the University of California system. Ms. Napolitano had her eye on becoming the next attorney general, but now is taking herself out of the Washington arena. Her departure deprives the administration of one of its most prominent voices on immigration even as it is in the throes of pushing Congress for an overhaul that would provide a pathway to citizenship for most of the 11 million foreigners who are here illegally. Ms. Napolitano said she decided to leave only after concluding that her absence would not affect chances for the immigration legislation, a person close to her said, but confirmation of a successor could become wrapped up in the larger immigration debate. Her move west creates an opening that could be hard for President Obama to fill. The secretary of homeland security presides over a sprawling department that was created after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, by combining nearly two dozen agencies as varied as the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Aides said the president had made no decision about who would take her place, but jockeying began instantly. Some lawmakers even began campaigning for preferred candidates. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, called Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, to recommend Raymond W. Kelly, the New York police commissioner, a choice also promoted by Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York. Senator Thomas R. Carper, Democrat of Delaware, chairman of the homeland security committee, made a case for Jane Holl Lute, the department’s former deputy secretary. Other names mentioned as possible candidates included FEMA’s administrator, W. Craig Fugate; John S. Pistole, the T.S.A. administrator; William J. Bratton, who has headed the Police Departments in New York, Los Angeles and Boston; Adm. Thad W. Allen, a former Coast Guard commandant; and Jane Harman, a former Democratic congresswoman from California. Ms. Napolitano, 55, a New York native, is one of Mr. Obama’s favorite cabinet secretaries, and was one of his finalists for the Supreme Court. After Mr. Obama’s re-election, when Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. considered stepping down, her associates said she was interested in succeeding him. But Mr. Holder stayed and has not said when he might leave. The homeland security job put Ms. Napolitano in the middle of volatile issues ranging from the Boston Marathon bombings to Hurricane Sandy and the BP oil spill. She presided over the extensive deportation of illegal immigrants while enacting a policy intended to allow some to stay if they were brought here as children. Republicans were often critical, saying she selectively enforced the law. “Secretary Napolitano’s tenure at the Department of Homeland Security was defined by a consistent disrespect for the rule of law,” Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, said Friday. He added that her successor “must disavow these aggressive nonenforcement directives, or there is very little hope for successful immigration reform.” But other Republicans, like Senator John McCain, also from Arizona, praised her. “I have never doubted her integrity, work ethic or commitment to our nation’s security,” he said. Ms. Napolitano was seen as more effective outside the public spotlight. Her speeches and public statements seemed stiff and forced. But privately she was funny, sarcastic and brimming with political gossip. As the former governor of a border state, she had the job’s immigration portfolio down cold, but seemed to struggle with the complexities and nuances of domestic terrorism challenges. When a Nigerian man listed in a terrorism database was able to board a Detroit-bound commercial airliner and was later stopped by fellow passengers from blowing up the plane using explosives hidden in his underwear, Ms. Napolitano said “the system worked.” After that, she was rarely the administration’s public face during terrorism episodes. But she was credited with imposing more order over a difficult department and with achievements that were important if unsung, according to experts in the area. One example they cited was a hard-fought agreement with the European Union on sharing passenger and flight data, allowing the authorities to check travelers before their planes take off for the United States, despite European objections. She does not have an extensive background in higher education, but her father, who died in January, was dean of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. She was the first woman to be valedictorian at Santa Clara University, and she earned a law degree at the University of Virginia. Ms. Napolitano will be the first woman to lead the University of California system, which has 10 campuses, 220,000 students and 170,000 faculty and staff members. Her predecessor, Mark G. Yudof, is stepping down after five years of dealing with steep cuts in state financing and increases in annual tuition for California residents, to $12,192 this fall from $6,636 in 2007. Many course offerings had to be cut, making it more difficult for undergraduates to earn a degree in four years. Mr. Yudof increased financial aid to students from low- and middle-income families but was the target of many student protests, some focusing on his nearly $600,000-a-year salary. Robert Powell, chairman of the system’s Academic Senate, said that “at a time when all major public research universities face the challenge of the arbitrary cuts from the federal sequester,” Ms. Napolitano could lead a “coalition of college presidents and chancellors to Washington.” Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, said Ms. Napolitano had the experience to match the challenge: “Janet Napolitano has run a large, complex organization. She knows how to get things done in a complicated situation.” Peter Baker reported from Washington, and Tamar Lewin from New York. Michael S. Schmidt and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 06:51:45 +0000
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