Department of Homeland Security Reorganization: The 2SR Initiative

Summary

This report focuses primarily on the conclusions and proposals resulting from 2SR pertaining to organization and managerial lines of authority matters. In one of his first actions as Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge’s successor, Michael Chertoff, on March 2, 2005, announced in testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security that he was “initiating a comprehensive review of the Department’s organization, operations, and policies.” This effort, he said, would begin “within days.” The results of that undertaking, which came to be known as the Second Stage Review or 2SR, were made public in mid-July.