LAS VEGAS — Homeland Security acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan on Thursday announced Transportation Security Administration Administrator David Pekoske has been promoted to deputy secretary of the department, serving as his right-hand man over 240,000 employees.
“Administrator Pekoske brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the Department, previously serving as a senior leader within two DHS agencies: the United States Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration,” McAleenan said in a statement.
“Additionally, he has tackled impressive challenges over the course of his career, ranging from acquisition and procurement reform as the Coast Guard’s Vice Commandant to securing America’s traveling public as TSA’s Administrator. I look forward to working with him to meet the homeland security challenges facing our nation,” said McAleenan.
The former acting deputy secretary, Claire Grady, resigned Tuesday night, just two days after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen left her post following a Sunday meeting with President Trump.
Pekoske and McAleenen are career employees who have already made it through Senate confirmation votes with strong bipartisan support, an indication they could once again sail through the process.
Pekoske was confirmed in August 2017 and McAleenan in May.
Sources told the Washington Examiner last November, when rumors started flying that Trump wasn’t happy with Nielsen’s performance, that McAleenan and Pekoske were the most likely candidates to take over the department.
“Pekoske,” one former high-level Homeland Security official said at the time, “I always found him to be a good listener — understands the importance of integrating agencies of DHS.”
“He’s very knowledgeable, very smart, great leadership skills, has that ability to problem-solve,” the official continued. “The last administration with TSA, with wait times, they were all over the place. This guy’s come in and really put some structure forward.”
A second former senior official at Homeland Security was quick to mention Pekoske and said he has the departmental knowledge and experience that others, including former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi or ex-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, lack, despite having personal relationships with Trump. Both Bondi and Kobach were floated as potential homeland security secretary candidates after John Kelly left to become White House chief of staff in summer 2017, and Kobach’s name has been floated again this week.
Pekoske, 63, in 2010 concluded 33 years in the military, as the vice commandant of the Coast Guard under Commandant Thad Allen. The guard is the only one of the five military branches that is under Homeland Security instead of the Defense Department because its personnel work closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on maritime security operations.
McAleenan’s background is as a lawyer and career law enforcement official, most recently in border and customs affairs.
TSA acting Deputy Administrator Patricia Cogswell will oversee the agency until a permanent chief is named.
