Secretary Nielsen. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen today will outline her priorities for the first time — including protecting election security and countering foreign meddling — during a House Appropriations Committee hearing.
The details: Nielsen's agenda, resonant with the Trump administration's "America First" theme, including keeping "foreign adversaries from stealing our trade secrets, technology, and innovation."
- Nielsen will say fully enforcing immigration laws is a main priority of her department.
- Nielsen will reiterate a "shared responsibility" culture of preparedness for disaster, saying local and state governments are best positioned. FEMA has moved this way, but she is doubling down and making it a department priority.
DHS priorities:
- Securing and managing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws.
- Protecting our nation from terrorism and countering threats: "Terrorists are adapting ... crowd-sourcing their violence through online radicalization and recruitment."
- Preserving and upholding the nation’s prosperity and economic security.
- Securing cyberspace and critical infrastructure.
- Strengthening homeland security preparedness and achieving resilience.