washington<u+2014>president-elect donald trump <u+2019>s transition team has begun holding meetings at the department of homeland security after weeks of delays, people familiar with the matter said. mr. trump held two meetings this week with prospective dhs leaders.<u+00a0>on monday,<u+00a0>he spoke with frances townsend, and<u+00a0>on tuesday,<u+00a0>with rep. michael mccaul (r., texas), two gop homeland-security experts who have in the past been openly critical of some of mr. trump<u+2019>s comments on muslims.<u+00a0>both ms. townsend and mr. mccaul have expressed openness to working with mr. trump since he won the election nov. 8. another person being considered for the dhs post is retired marine gen. john kelly, former commander of the u.s. southern command. some of mr. trump<u+2019>s aides are very impressed with his background and have pushed for his candidacy, said two people familiar with the transition process. while the trump transition team had set national security as its first target, moves to staff the agency charged with keeping the country safe from attacks<u+2014>both domestic and foreign<u+2014>have been slow in coming compared with the president-elect<u+2019>s other appointments. president george w. bush arrived at the white house with a <u+201c>compassionate conservative<u+201d> agenda that focused on immigration and economic reforms. less than nine months after his inauguration, his administration was redefined by the sept. 11, 2001, attacks that propelled the u.s. into wars in afghanistan and iraq. dhs was created by mr. bush after the attacks, and it has more than 240,000 employees, ranking it as the government<u+2019>s third-largest cabinet agency. its sprawling mandate includes counterterrorism, disaster response, cybersecurity, and border and immigration controls, a broad and somewhat eclectic array of assignments that have discouraged some prospective candidates, according to one person involved in the transition team. in the trump administration, the agency would be at the forefront of efforts to deport illegal immigrants who have entered the u.s. from mexico and to block the entry of certain refugees from the middle east, should mr. trump act on pledges he made during his presidential campaign. it represents a stark change from dhs<u+2019>s current approach to counterterrorism, which includes developing close relationships with muslim leaders and other immigrant groups to help detect potential domestic threats. the u.s. customs and border protection and immigration and customs enforcement are both divisions of dhs, and mr. trump often spoke about how the labor unions at these agencies backed his candidacy. <u+201c>finding folks who want to work on immigration is a different set of candidates than finding folks who want to work on homeland security,<u+201d> said stewart baker, a partner at steptoe & johnson llp who was assistant secretary of policy at dhs during the bush administration. <u+201c>finding someone who can do both, that<u+2019>s tricky.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s proposals to ban the entry of muslims into the u.s. was one of his most provocative during the presidential campaign, and it triggered a swift backlash from many republican national-security experts. this included ms. townsend, who cosigned a letter in march that said <u+201c>we are united in our opposition to a donald trump presidency<u+201d> and <u+201c>he is fundamentally dishonest.<u+201d> ms. townsend, who had served in the george w. bush administration as the white house<u+2019>s homeland-security adviser, declined to comment for this article, but someone close to her said that her views on mr. trump have moderated as his comments on muslims have changed. in recent months, his proposed ban on the entry of muslims has shifted into proposed hurdles on the entry of people from countries that have a high incidence of terrorism. mr. mccaul is chairman of the house committee on homeland security and a former federal prosecutor. he was also critical of mr. trump<u+2019>s past comments about a muslim immigration ban, saying it isn<u+2019>t <u+201c>workable.<u+201d> but he has pushed mr. trump to adjust his views. after the meeting, mr. mccaul told reporters that he and mr. trump <u+201c>had a very substantive and productive conversation<u+2026>regarding homeland security issues, national security issues.<u+201d> john cohen, a rutgers university professor and former senior counterterrorism official at dhs, said the next leader of the agency will have to have a much different approach than past leaders because of the broadening scope of the agency. dhs officials were consumed with trying to block cyberattacks against state networks before the election and on government agencies and private corporations before that. a shift toward focusing on immigrants and refugees would take different skills. <u+201c>i think it<u+2019>s going to be really important that whomever he selects, it<u+2019>s somebody who has a background and understanding of the broad range of issues the department deals with,<u+201d> mr. cohen said. some of the trump transition team<u+2019>s planning at dhs is being led by james carafano and michael dougherty. mr. carafano is a national-security expert at the conservative heritage foundation, and mr. dougherty is a former raytheon executive, republican congressional aide and dhs official who is now chief executive of the secure identity & biometrics association, a trade group. both men declined to comment. mr. trump also has met recently with kansas secretary of state kris kobach, who has played a central role in conservative efforts to stiffen immigration rules. as mr. kobach left their meeting, a photographer captured a document he was carrying with the title: <u+201c>department of homeland security <u+2013> kobach strategic plan for first 365 days.<u+201d> it included things like <u+201c>bar the entry of potential terrorists<u+201d> and items on dealing with a <u+201c>record number of criminal aliens in the first year.<u+201d> mr. kobach didn<u+2019>t respond to many requests for comment, and whether he is being considered for the dhs post isn<u+2019>t clear. write to damian paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com
donald trump transition team turns focus to homeland security  - wsj
damian paletta