by Stephen Barr

Michael P. Jackson, No. 2 in the Department of Homeland Security, has served as deputy secretary for slightly more than two years. Now, he's leaving the Bush administration, which is approaching its final year in office.

Jackson's resignation, effective next month, points up the need for continuity in the government, especially Homeland Security, during presidential transitions.

It also has renewed concerns among Democrats on Capitol Hill that the department continues to suffer from too much turnover in senior positions.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), who chairs the federal workforce subcommittee, said Jackson's resignation "creates a hole in the leadership at DHS at a time when serious management issues, including the transition to a new administration after next fall's elections, plague the department."

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said "the department's leadership has more holes than Swiss cheese."

The department disputes any suggestion that transition planning will be affected by the loss of Jackson, who is in charge of day-to-day operations. Russ Knocke, the department's press secretary, said Jackson has put succession plans in place for Homeland Security agencies and program offices and has overseen the placement of career leaders in key positions.

Fourteen agencies and program offices have career federal executives as the No. 2 official, and the No. 3 and No. 4 jobs at many other agencies are filled by career employees, Knocke said.

Jackson has made transition planning "a core priority among all of the senior leadership team in the department," Knocke said. "They know what more needs to be done in between now and a transition in January 2009."

Still, reviews are mixed on the department's progress in pulling together the 22 agencies that make it up. The Government Accountability Office, in a recent assessment, found improvements in key mission-related operations but said the department was falling short of its goals in personnel, finance and procurement.

David M. Walker, the head of GAO, testified on the department's challenges at a Sept. 6 hearing in the Senate and suggested other large departments need to focus on better management.

"I don't think that government places enough attention on management in general," Walker said. "And in particular I think government has an incredibly complex job to do with regard to major mergers and transformation efforts that is of higher complexity than the private sector."

In the government, Walker said, "you have more bosses, you have less flexibility and you have much more transparency -- all the more reason why you must not just have people who are competent and credible; you must have continuity."

One way to ensure continuity is to designate a chief management officer for large departments, such as Homeland Security and Defense, Walker said in testimony at the hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Such an officer should serve a fixed term in office that would serve as a bridge from one White House to the next.

But Homeland Security and Defense have pushed back, saying that an additional layer to the departmental management teams is not warranted and that the No. 2 official should set the agenda for improving personnel, financial and acquisition systems.

In the original version of this year's legislation implementing recommendations from the Sept. 11 commission, the undersecretary for management at Homeland Security was supposed to be a key adviser to Secretary Michael Chertoff, with status equal to the deputy secretary. But that's not how it turned out.

Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), who has championed the idea of a chief management officer for Homeland Security, has reintroduced legislation to elevate the undersecretary and to give that position a five-year term. Akaka has called for a similar position to be created at the Pentagon.

"We're going to ride on this management thing, and we want to be able to determine whether or not progress is really being made," Voinovich said at the Sept. 6 hearing.

In an e-mail to Homeland Security employees, Jackson said his resignation, effective Oct. 26, was prompted by personal financial reasons.

Possible replacements for Jackson include W. Ralph Basham, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; Kip Hawley, the head of the Transportation Security Administration; Paul A. Schneider, the department's undersecretary for management, and Michael Bopp, associate director for general government programs, including homeland security, at the Office of Management Budget, according to Capitol Hill aides.

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