SHUFFLING THE DECK (OR THE DECK CHAIRS ANYWAY) :

Rumsfeld may quit Pentagon to take on top Homeland role (The Hill)

White House insiders say President Bush may ask Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to assume command of the new Department of Homeland Security when Congress completes work on the massive government reorganization plan in the months to come.

Under this scenario, Rumsfeld's Pentagon post would go to his top deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, a veteran administrator who has also held several key diplomatic posts.

This would be a homerun. You'd put someone who has extensive experience running massive operations in charge of Homeland Security which is going to be even more of a bureaucrat nightmare than the rest of our bloated government while all the agencies try to integrate themselves. Meanwhile, you'd get continuity at Defense and a guy who's a real hawk in the Middle East. Hard to see why Rumsfeld would do it though, unless he is just a supreme patriot, which shouldn't be ruled out. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 24, 2002 7:34 PM