The “the unacceptable number of senior level vacancies”...

House Homeland Security Committee Thursday. More than 40 percent of DHS’s senior leadership positions are vacant or are being filled by a temporary replacement. Nominees for some positions, including Homeland Security Secretary nominee Jeh Johnson, await confirmation in the Senate. The Senate could vote on Johnson’s nomination this week. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said during the hearing that these vacancies “have a negative impact on mission effectiveness and employee morale.” The Government Accountability Office has found that morale is low across the agency’s departments. Morale within the National Protection and Programs Directorate, which leads DHS’s cybersecurity efforts, scored below the government-wide average, said David Maurer, GAO director-Homeland Security and Justice Issues. Ridge said the White House needs to “better anticipate” vacancies within DHS and vet possible candidates in a “thorough but timely manner,” while the Senate needs to consider nominees “in a timely manner” and not use the confirmation process for “political gamesmanship.” The hearing was a day after McCaul and committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., introduced the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (HR-3696), which would codify DHS’s existing collaboration efforts with the private sector, including information sharing regarding cyberthreats, but would not give the agency new powers. House Cybersecurity Subcommittee Chairman Pat Meehan, R-Pa., and subcommittee ranking member Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., were original cosponsors of the bill (http://1.usa.gov/1gthI9g).