The Homeland Security Council (HSC) is an entity within the White House Office tasked with advising the President on matters relating to Homeland Security, the current Homeland Security Advisor is John Brennan who holds the rank Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security.

Contents 1 History 2 Mission 3 Structure 4 Membership 5 Former United States Homeland Security Advisors 6 References

[edit] History

The Homeland Security Council (HSC) is an entity within the White House Office and was created by Executive Order 13228 on October 29, 2001 and subsequently expanded on y Homeland Security Presidential Directive 1 ^[1]. It served as the successor to the Office of Homeland Security, established on September 20, 2001, immediately after to the September 11 attacks. Congress subsequently codified the HSC in the Homeland Security Act of 2002, charging it with advising the President on homeland security matters.^[2]

On February 23, 2009, the Obama administration released Presidential Study Directive 1. This memorandum ordered a 60-day inter-agency review of the White House homeland security and counter-terrorism structure. The review recommended that the President merge the staff supporting the Homeland Security Council with the staff supporting the National Security Council.^[3][4] There had been ongoing debate among policymakers and observers regarding whether the HSC staff should remain an independent entity with the White House or merged with the NSC staff.^[5]

On May 26, 2009, President Obama signed the recommendation to merge the Homeland Security Council and National Security Council staffs into one National Security Staff (NSS). The HSC and NSC continue to exist by statute as independent but closely coordinated councils of leadership advising the President.^[6]

[edit] Mission

The Homeland Security Council is responsible for assessing the objectives, commitments, and risks of the United States, and for making recommendations to the President with respect to homeland security policy.

[edit] Structure

The HSC was similar to its national security counterpart, the National Security Council (NSC), which was established in the National Security Act of 1947. The HSC also maintained structural similarities with the NSC; the HSC consisted of full-time staff organized by subject areas relating to homeland security missions, with the Council itself being composed of Cabinet members and senior White House officials whose departments have principal interests in homeland security policy-making. Due to the amendments implemented by President Obama the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council now have combined staff.

Unlike the Department of Homeland Security, a federal executive department, the HSC functioned as part of the Executive Office of the President, drawing staff from across federal agencies and under the direct control of the President.

[edit] Membership

Structure of the United States Homeland Security Council (Current)
Chair	Barack Obama (President of the United States)
Statutory Attendees	Joe Biden (Vice President of the United States) Tim Geithner (Secretary of the Treasury) Robert M. Gates (Secretary of Defense) Eric Holder (Attorney General) Kathleen Sebelius (Secretary of Health and Human Services) Ray LaHood (Secretary of Transportation) Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security) Craig Fugate (Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency) Robert Mueller (Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) John Brennan (Homeland Security Advisor)
Additional Attendees	Rahm Emanuel (Chief of Staff) Ron Klain (Chief of Staff to the Vice President) James Jones (Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs) Greg Craig (Counsel to the President) Peter Orszag (Director of the Office of Management and Budget)
Occasional Participants	Hillary Rodham Clinton (Secretary of State) Tom Vilsack (Secretary of Agriculture) Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Interior) Steven Chu (Secretary of Energy) Hilda Solis (Secretary of Labor) Gary Locke (Secretary of Commerce) Eric Shinseki (Secretary of Veterans Affairs) Lisa P. Jackson (Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency) Lawrence Summers (Assistant to the President for Economic Policy) Melody Barnes (Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy)

[edit] Former United States Homeland Security Advisors

• 2001-2003 Tom Ridge
• 2003 Vacant
• 2003-2004 John A. Gordon
• 2004-2007 Frances M. Fragos Townsend
• 2007-2008 Vacant
• 2008-2009 Kenneth L. Wainstein

[edit] References

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