Security At Any Price?
Homeland protection isn't just Job 1 in Washington; it's more like a big old government ATM
Rainmakers. All that money has resulted in the replication of a time-honored Washington tradition: the revolving door. "The speed with which this one is turning is surprising," says Bill Allison, managing editor at the Center for Public Integrity, a watchdog group. "It's difficult to think of another agency that has had so much turnover in such a short period of time." Ethics rules generally restrict exiting government officials from lobbying their former employer for a year, but there have been some special exceptions created that allow former homeland security officials to lobby components of DHS--like the Secret Service or the Coast Guard--if they weren't directly involved with them previously. And there are no restrictions on lobbying Congress. Others say lobbying isn't even necessary. "In this town," says Ronald Marks, director of homeland security and intelligence programs at Serco, a government services provider, "just having a big name at your firm is a rainmaker."
In many ways, the spinning of DHS's revolving door began prior to the department's founding. In late 2002 and early 2003, just before Tom Ridge moved from the White House's Office of Homeland Security to become secretary of the newborn department, two of his top aides left for the lobbying world. Ashley Davis, Ridge's then special assistant, and Mark Holman, a man described in promotional materials for a speaking event as "the closest governmental and political adviser to [Ridge] for over 18 years," joined Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, a small lobbying shop in a law firm headed by a friend of Ridge's. Soon, Blank Rome was registered to lobby for companies like Boeing and BearingPoint--recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in DHS contracts. Blank Rome's revenues grew 186 percent last year, the biggest growth spurt of any of Washington's 50 largest lobbying firms. The ethics rules do not prevent Davis and Holman from lobbying the Department of Homeland Security, because they worked at the precursor Office of Homeland Security, which was part of the White House. Critics call that hair-splitting, but Topper Ray, a spokesman for Blank Rome, disagrees. "The criticism is unwarranted and unfair," he says, noting that the White House homeland security office was "policy driven," with no "operational authority."
That may be, but the procession of DHS leaders to the private sector has only accelerated. In the past six months, more than a dozen top-level officials have left the department or announced their resignations, among them Ridge, Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson, and Adm. James Loy, a deputy secretary (box, Page 27). Many joined private-sector firms pursuing homeland security business. "I think we need experienced voices like myself that can help industry in a very tough environment," says Hutchinson of his new law firm post. Back at DHS, acting directors--or nonpermanent fill-ins--still occupy seven senior-level positions. The Transportation Security Administration is welcoming its fourth leader in three years. "DHS is not on the path to building up a competent cadre," says Richard Clarke, who served as terrorism czar under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. "And that's worrisome."
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