DHS deputy secretary steps down

Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael P. Jackson announced his resignation today. Jackson, who has been second in command to Secretary Michael Chertoff since March 2005, will stay at his post until Oct. 26.

Jackson previously served as deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the Transportation Department from May 2001 to August 2003. In that position, he helped create the new Transportation Security Administration as part of DHS.

Jackson left TSA to become senior vice president of AECOM Technology Corp., where he was chief operating officer of the government services group before accepting the deputy secretary position at DHS.

"I want to thank Deputy Secretary Jackson for his loyal service and for coming to the aid of his country in a time of need," Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, wrote in a news release. "He has been instrumental in helping the department tackle some of the most pressing security problems facing the country today. I am, of course, concerned about a change in the top leadership of the Department at this point in the Bush Administration. I hope the President will quickly choose a successor."

Jackson has worked in the White House under President George H. W. Bush and also in the Education Department under President Ronald Reagan.