Speaker Pelosi Announces Agreement on Committee Jurisdiction Regarding Department of Homeland Security

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently announced that the House Committee on Homeland Security and several other House committees have reached a memorandum of understanding that would help solve jurisdictional issues that have plagued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for years.

Speaker Pelosi said of the new MOU, “The leadership of all House Committees remains essential to the work of Congressional Democrats and the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure that the Department is led and operated with dignity, integrity and accountability.”

Under this agreement, committees with jurisdiction over parts of DHS will coordinate with the Committee on Homeland Security to produce comprehensive authorization legislation for DHS and consult with the Committee on Homeland Security prior to consideration of component authorization legislation in a committee markup. The different committee heads will work together to help DHS with the goal of improving the department’s operations and efficiency.

DHS, which was created in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks, has been under scrutiny by several former Secretaries of Homeland Security for its current structure. The Atlantic Council’s Future of DHS Project highlighted the need for major reforms, improvements, and enhancements to ensure the department can fulfill its mission of protecting the nation.

Proponents of change argue that Congressional oversight reform is necessary at DHS because over 90 committees and subcommittees have jurisdiction over the DHS and its components. This memorandum of understanding should help streamline DHS projects and needs, and the department will become more efficient.

Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) said of the MOU, “While I regret that the Homeland Security Committee’s jurisdiction was not expanded, the committees with jurisdiction over parts of DHS are poised to collaborate to an unprecedented degree to put the Department on a positive path.  With the continued support of Speaker Pelosi, this agreement positions the 117th Congress to advance critical reforms to build DHS back better.”