United States Secretary of Homeland Security facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Flag of the secretary
Seal of the Department of Homeland Security
Incumbent Kristi Noem since January 25, 2025
Department of Homeland Security
Style	Madam Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet Homeland Security Council National Security Council
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	St. Elizabeths West Campus, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Appointer	President of the United States with Senate Advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	6 U.S.C. § 112
Formation	January 24, 2003 (22 years ago) (2003-01-24)
First holder	Tom Ridge
Succession	Eighteenth
Deputy	Deputy Secretary
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I

The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other Cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, the Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (which includes the United States Border Patrol), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which includes Homeland Security Investigations), the United States Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The current secretary of homeland security is Kristi Noem, since January 25, 2025.

List of secretaries of homeland security

Prior to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, there existed an assistant to the president for the Office of Homeland Security, which was created following the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Parties

      Republican (7)       Democratic (4)       Independent (5)

Status

      Denotes acting homeland security secretary

No.		Portrait	Name	Senate vote	Term of office			State of residence	President
					Took office	Left office	Duration
1			Ridge, TomTom Ridge (Born Aug 26, 1945)	94–0	January 24, 2003	February 1, 2005	2 years, 8 days	Pennsylvania		Bush, George W.George W. Bush (2001–2009)
–			Loy, JamesJames Loy (Born Aug 10, 1942) Acting	–	February 1, 2005	February 15, 2005	14 days	Pennsylvania
2			Chertoff, MichaelMichael Chertoff (Born Nov 28, 1953)	98–0	February 15, 2005	January 21, 2009	3 years, 341 days	New Jersey
3			Napolitano, JanetJanet Napolitano (Born Nov 29, 1957)	Voice vote	January 21, 2009	September 6, 2013	4 years, 228 days	Arizona		Obama, BarackBarack Obama (2009–2017)
–			Beers, RandRand Beers (Born Nov 30, 1942) Acting	–	September 6, 2013	December 23, 2013	108 days	District of Columbia
4			Johnson, JehJeh Johnson (Born Sept 11, 1957)	78–16	December 23, 2013	January 20, 2017	3 years, 28 days	New Jersey
5			Kelly, John F.John F. Kelly (Born May 11, 1950)	88–11	January 20, 2017	July 31, 2017	192 days	Massachusetts		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump (2017–2021)
–			Duke, ElaineElaine Duke (Born June 26, 1958) Acting	–	July 31, 2017	December 6, 2017	128 days	Ohio
6			Nielsen, KirstjenKirstjen Nielsen (Born May 14, 1972)	62–37	December 6, 2017	April 10, 2019	1 year, 125 days	Florida
–			McAleenan, KevinKevin McAleenan (Born Sept 5, 1971) Acting; unlawful tenure	–	April 10, 2019	November 13, 2019	217 days	Hawaii
–			Wolf, ChadChad Wolf (Born June 21, 1976) Acting; unlawful tenure	–	November 13, 2019	January 11, 2021	1 year, 59 days	Virginia
–			Gaynor, PetePete Gaynor (Born 1968) Acting	–	January 11, 2021	January 20, 2021	9 days	Rhode Island
–			Pekoske, DavidDavid Pekoske (Born May 5, 1955) Acting	–	January 20, 2021	February 2, 2021	13 days	Connecticut		Biden, JoeJoe Biden (2021–2025)
7			Mayorkas, AlejandroAlejandro Mayorkas (Born Nov 24, 1959)	56–43	February 2, 2021	January 20, 2025	3 years, 353 days	District of Columbia
–			Huffman, BenjamineBenjamine Huffman Acting	–	January 20, 2025	January 25, 2025	5 days	Texas		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump (2025–present)
8			Noem, KristiKristi Noem (Born Nov 30, 1971)	59–34	January 25, 2025	Incumbent	10 days	South Dakota

a. James Loy served as acting secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

b. Rand Beers served as acting secretary in his capacity as confirmed Undersecretary of Homeland Security for National Protection and Programs and Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security; Beers was the highest ranking Senate-approved presidential appointee at the Department of Homeland Security.

c. Elaine Duke served as acting secretary in her capacity as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

d. Kevin McAleenan served as acting secretary in his capacity as Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. His tenure was ruled unlawful.

e. Chad Wolf served as acting secretary in his capacity as Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy, and Plans. His tenure was ruled unlawful.

f. Peter Gaynor served as acting secretary in his capacity as Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator.

g. David Pekoske served as acting secretary in his capacity as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

Order of succession

While appointment of acting officials is generally governed by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA), the Homeland Security Act of 2002 creates exceptions to FVRA, mandating that the under secretary of homeland security for management is third in the line of succession for Secretary of Homeland Security, and establishes an alternate process by which the secretary can directly establish a line of succession outside the provisions of the FVRA.

As of November 8, 2019, the order of succession is as follows. However, the legality of this update was challenged.

1. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
2. Under Secretary for Management
3. Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
4. Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans
5. Administrator and Assistant Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration
6. Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Formerly, an April 10, 2019 update to the DHS Orders of Succession, made pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, provided a different order in the case of unavailability to act during a disaster or catastrophic emergency:

1. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
2. Under Secretary for Management
3. Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
4. Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
5. Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
6. Under Secretary for Science and Technology
7. Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis
8. Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration
9. Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
10. Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
11. Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans
12. General Counsel
13. Deputy Under Secretary for Management
14. Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
15. Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration
16. Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
17. Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
18. Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

As a result of Executive Order 13753 in 2016, the order of succession for the secretary of homeland security was as follows:

1. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
2. Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management
3. Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
4. Under Secretary of Homeland Security for National Protection and Programs
5. Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology
6. Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis
7. Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
8. Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration
9. Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
10. Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
11. Assistant Secretary for Policy
12. General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security
13. Deputy Under Secretary for Management
14. Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
15. Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration
16. Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
17. Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
18. Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security

Purpose

The Office of the Secretary (OS) oversees the execution of the duties of the Department of Homeland Security. Certain elements also aid the Secretary of Homeland Security and senior officials of the Department of Homeland Security, as well as private sector and government partners in their duties.

Composition

The Office of the Secretary contains several offices and other elements of the DHS. Most of the heads of these elements report directly to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary, but the Military Advisor and Executive Secretary report to the DHS Chief of Staff, who is currently Jonathan Davidson.

See also

In Spanish: Secretario de Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos para niños

• Interior minister
• List of current interior ministers