Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday said that Rand Beers will become the acting deputy secretary of the department beginning today until Jane Holl Lute is confirmed.
Beers most recently led President Obama’s Department of Homeland Security agency review team during the transition. Beers previously has served under four different presidents in various counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics roles.
Obama last month announced his intention to nominate Lute to be Napolitano’s deputy. Current Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Paul Schneider’s leaves the department today.
“Paul has been a dedicated public servant for more than forty years, and has come out of retirement more than once to continue to lend his expertise and leadership in securing our nation,” Napolitano said in a statement. “I’m grateful for his long service and for his counsel to me through the transition, and I wish him well in retirement.”
Lute is the assistant secretary-general for Peacebuilding Support at the United Nations. Napolitano said that given Lute’s background in the United States Army and at the U.N., she “will bring a wealth of operational management experience to our department.”