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Part II: Recommendations
Based on his and others’ oversight of the Department of Homeland Security over the past
ten years, including the information presented in this report, Senator Tom Coburn offers the
following recommendations for Congress and the Department of Homeland Security:
1. Reforming DHS must begin by reforming Congress’s approach to homeland security—
including streamlining committee jurisdiction over DHS and putting aside parochial
considerations when making policies for DHS.
The biggest challenge facing the Department of Homeland Security is Congress itself.
Congressional oversight of executive branch agencies is one of the essential features of our
government, allowing the people, through their elected representatives, to hold agencies
accountable for complying with and enforcing the law. Yet, when it comes to DHS, Congress’s
oversight of the Department is fractured, disorganized and, at times, contradictory.
Under the current jurisdictional rules, the Department of Homeland Security reports
that it is accountable to responding to inquiries from more than 90 committees and
subcommittees that have some jurisdiction to conduct oversight of DHS. 705 The Washington
Post reported that the number of Committees that exercise some jurisdiction over DHS was
“nearly three times the number that oversee the Department of Defense.” 706 This means that
hundreds of legislators across both bodies of Congress, including dozens of Committee chairs
and ranking members, have the power to oversee, question, and set priorities for DHS.
This fractured jurisdiction creates challenges both for Congress and DHS. For example,
authorization legislation is routine for government organizations, and is the mechanism by
which Congress sets agency priorities and comprehensive policy direction. But jurisdictional
705 This estimated has been attributed to the DHS Office of Legislative Affairs, and was cited by the Aspen Institute
and Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, in various publications since 2013.
Committee staff sent an inquiry to CRS to clarify what was the most accurate estimate of number of committees
and subcommittees that have jurisdiction over DHS. CRS reported that “there is no single accepted methodology
for making an authoritative count, due in part to the flexibilities inherent in the rules and precedents of each
chamber.” Email from CRS to Committee Staff, December 17, 2014.
706 Jerry Markon, “Department of Homeland Security has 120 reasons to want streamlined oversight,” Washington
Post, September 25, 2014.
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