Former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretaries Michael Chertoff and Jeh Johnson called for the creation of a new public safety agency and a comprehensive restructuring of the department. Speaking in a joint interview on Thursday, September 10, 2026, the two former officials stated that the agency has moved away from its original mission established after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The proposal was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of those attacks.
The Department of Homeland Security was formed in the aftermath of 9/11 to unify national security efforts and prevent future large-scale terrorism. Chertoff, who led the department under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009, and Johnson, who served under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, argued that the department’s current focus has shifted too heavily toward immigration enforcement. Johnson noted that while he viewed the department primarily as a security entity in 2013, he now believes it requires a "reset" because it has become associated with mass deportations and detention.
Under the proposed plan, any sub-agencies not directly related to public safety would be removed from DHS. The former secretaries specifically suggested spinning off the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), advocating for a structure similar to European public safety ministries. Chertoff stated that this change would allow the Cabinet secretary to prioritize serious threats rather than focusing on "gardeners and home health aides." He argued that the current approach prevents the department from unifying efforts to protect the country from the most significant risks.
Data from the Deportation Data Project indicates that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of DHS, arrested 49,571 people in July 2026. This figure represents the highest number of arrests during President Trump’s second term. While Johnson stated that the department has become more effective at tracking individuals entering the country, he warned that the DHS he and Chertoff previously led is not currently equipped to address the way the domestic terrorist threat has "morphed" over the last two decades.
The scale of the department's current activities is significant, with ICE alone conducting nearly 50,000 arrests in a single month. For individuals, these policy shifts could result in changes to how immigration laws are enforced on a daily basis and how federal aid is distributed following emergencies. By moving FEMA out of DHS, the former secretaries suggest a shift in legal rights and administrative priorities that would likely require significant congressional action to change the department's founding statutes.
The knock-on effects would be felt across the federal budget and within state and local agencies that rely on DHS for coordination and funding. Setting a precedent for "spinning off" major components like FEMA could lead to further decentralization of the national security apparatus created 25 years ago. At this time, DHS has not issued a formal response to the proposal, and no specific legislation has been introduced in Congress to implement these changes. The next steps for the proposal depend on whether lawmakers in the House or Senate take up the recommendations for a departmental "reset."