Reporter Notebook: DHS, Five Years On

For example, it didn't help when the FEMA press office decided to stage a phony news conference because it had notified reporters too late for any real reporters to show up.

Elaine Kamarck, who used to work in the Clinton administration and is now a government reform expert at Harvard's Kennedy School, says there is no leadership at DHS.

"You have enormous turnover in the political staff. You have enormous turnover among the career people," Kamarck says.

Single Agency, Spread Out

Kamarck said she thinks the department is too big and that some parts, such as FEMA, need to be removed. When the agency was created in 2002, it merged two dozen agencies and almost 200,000 federal employees.

Others warn against a massive reorganization because what the department needs now is stability and cohesion.

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