Homeland Security nominee would focus on leadership vacancies

By Alicia Caldwell

Published November 13, 2013 5:00am ET

Homeland Security nominee would focus on leadership vacancies — FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2013, file photo, Jeh Johnson, President Barack Obama's choice for the next Homeland Security Secretary, speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. Johnson's confirmation hearing is Nov. 13, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) | Charles Dharapak

President Obama’s pick to be the Homeland Security secretary said Wednesday that filling key leadership vacancies and improving morale is more critical currently than the department’s core counterterrorism mission.

In answers to questions leading up to his Senate confirmation hearing, Jeh Johnson deviated from his predecessors’ stated priorities by listing counterterrorism third instead of first, among priorities.