ABSTRACT
The events of September 11, 2001, have been transformative for U.S. government. They have brought us the most significant reorganization of the federal government, both in size and complexity, since the Department of Defense (DOD) was created in 1947. In fact, Don Kettl has suggested that the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to be even more difficult than setting up the DOD because of the huge number of diverse functions being combined and the “enormous rush to do it without in any way sacrificing any of the pieces that were already being done” (Kettl 2003a, 3; Kettl 2003b). In the process, significant amounts of money have been added to this newly emphasized high-priority function of government right at a time of growing federal deficits fueled by a lackluster economy and the demands of the Iraq War. To complicate matters, many of the twenty-two agencies consolidated into the new department are administered and managed intergovernmentally.
