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This recommendation concurs with the recommendations offered by virtually all
commentators on the President’s proposal for a new Department of Homeland Security. The
plan should focus on measurable outcomes. Given the importance of intergovernmental
implementation, networking, and coordination for the successful achievement of these outcomes
and the Bush Administrations demonstrated tendency to limit access to homeland security
information, the likelihood that this recommendation will be implemented is low to moderate.
Recommendation 2: Strategic human capital management should be a critical component
of this plan.
The Act requires the development of a “flexible and contemporary” human resource
management system. The General Accounting Office and the National Academy of Public
Administration both strongly recommend that the human capital office in the new Department
should be an integral component of both the overall strategic plan and of the overall leadership of
the Department. The leadership team provided under the Act certainly implies this logic.
Weighing the commitment of the administration to the President’s strategic management agenda
against the political controversy likely to arise if President Bush pursues his natural inclination to
decertify the DHS unions, the likelihood that the recommendation will be implemented is
moderate to high.
Recommendation 3a: In the short term, the human capital plan should focus on the
personnel flexibilities currently available under federal law, including those added in the
Homeland Security Act.
Recommendation 3b: Other personnel flexibilities should only be pursued with the
consultation with employee representatives required under the Act.
Convention