Mr. Shields has been a leader in counterterrorism and homeland security issues for 15 years. He has a wide breadth of experience from coordinating security policy at the highest levels of government to directing tactical targeting efforts to detain terrorists for Special Operations Forces (SOF). He currently is the Staff Director for the House Homeland Security Committee where he manages all legislative, investigative and oversight efforts of his 50 person staff. Focus areas: cyber and border security, homegrown terrorism, and intelligence. Prior, he was CACI’s Vice President for Homeland Security where he led business development and capture efforts across the DHS mission space to include: intelligence analysis, infrastructure protection, mobility, biometrics and information sharing.
Prior to this position, he was the Republican Policy Director for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee where he coordinated all committee security related legislation, oversight and hearings. The main security focus areas for committee action were cyber security, counterterrorism, transportation security, and authorizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, programs, and funding levels. Prior to his Senate position, he was deployed to Iraq where he was the intelligence officer for a SOF detachment. His main responsibility was to identify and target terrorists by harmonizing various types of intelligence to support direct action missions. He also coordinated post mission sensitive site exploitation, liaised with local forces and battle space owners, interrogated detainees, and produced in-depth analysis of terrorists and their networks.
Prior to his deployment, Mr. Shields worked for the White House Homeland Security Council as a Director for Response Policy and was responsible for domestic incident management, briefing senior leaders on crisis situations, monitoring current terrorism threats, directing policy matters (e.g., all national exercises) at the Assistant Secretary level, and furthering various Administration security priorities.
From 2004 until 2007, Mr. Shields was appointed to various positions at the DHS. Before he departed for the White House, he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Operations Directorate and was responsible for high-level projects, policy direction, Congressional affairs, and a manager of 400 staff and contractors. Prior to that, he was the Advisor to the Director of Operations for Policy and International Affairs. His first appointment at DHS was as a Policy Advisor to the Information Analysis & Infrastructure Protection Undersecretary. His main duties included providing policy guidance and deploying the Homeland Security Information Network, improving America’s alert and warning capabilities for the general public, and international information sharing efforts.
Mr. Shields was appointed to the State Department as the Congressional liaison officer in 2003 for the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau focusing on Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iran, Israel, Syria and Gulf Affairs.
Before joining the Administration, Mr. Shields worked in the U.S. House of Representatives Leadership (House Republican Conference) from 1998 until 2002 for Chairmen John Boehner and J.C. Watts. He was Watts’ point person on homeland security and terrorism. During this time he was also a lead staffer on the Ad Hoc Committee on Homeland Security which drafted the legislation to create DHS.
Mr. Shields was a leader on homeland security policy before 9/11. In early 2000, he established the House Homeland Security Staff Working Group and engaged various government entities with homeland security missions. Major highlights during this time were drafting legislation to create a department with the sole responsibility for homeland security and advocating the need for Congressional oversight reform. His other responsibilities included establishing the Office of Committee Relations which provides legislative summary information for Members and staff. His first position in the Conference (Chairman John Boehner) was as a legislative analyst.
Mr. Shields was elected Phi Beta Kappa in 1997 and graduated from The George Washington University Magna Cum Laude in 1998. He received his M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College in 2005 and is a Lieutenant the U.S. Navy Reserve. In 2012, he was inducted as a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member. Mr. Shields is the President and founder of District Trust Charities which raises funds for organizations in DC helping those in need including the Navy SEAL Foundation and Horton’s Kids.
The most immediate priorities are getting the DHS reauthorization bill through the Senate and planning for a number of activities ramping-up following the August recess
Under Chairman Michael McCaul’s leadership the committee has been very active passing a number of bipartisan pieces of legislation. Most notably, there was agreement to move forward with legislation to reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security for the first time since the agency’s inception, which requires the many other committees with jurisdiction to agree to the process. To date, feedback on the legislation (H.R. 2825) has been very positive with the committee engaging a wide-range of stakeholders; and the bill passed the House with a vote of 386-41. The current legislation dictates that DHS cannot reorganize without congressional approval, it gives additional authorities to the Under Secretary of Management and Chief Information Officer, and establishes some new cyber threat sharing programs, among other provisions. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) plans to mark-up the DHS Reauthorization Bill in October. “HSGAC has been very engaged, but it is important to remember that they are really two committees in one,” said Brendan inferring that the Senate committee often has competing priorities.
Other immediate priorities according to the staff director include preparation for the annual hearing around September 11th on worldwide threats to the homeland. There will also be a mark-up on the recently proposed Border Security for America Act sponsored by Chairman McCaul. In addition, the Chairman established a bipartisan task force earlier this year consisting of freshman committee members to identify gaps in vetting procedures and information sharing to enhance the security of points of entry.
Cybersecurity remains a top priority for the committee with recent efforts focused on operationalizing the DHS cyber mission
Cybersecurity demands a lot of the committee’s time, commented Brendan. In the 113th Congress there were many “foundational” bills passed related to the federal government’s responsibilities around cybersecurity that codified roles. “DHS has the crown jewel for hiring on cyber, but this process has been delayed at the agency because of bureaucracy issues.” DHS was given the additional hiring authorities in 2014, but has told the committee they are not onboarding these employees until 2019, which can have a significant impact on the cyber mission. There are also efforts underway to reorganize the National Protection and Programs Directorate at DHS and make it the eighth operational component within the agency. The most recent version of this bill passed with zero amendments offered, which speaks to the strength of the legislation, according to Brendan.
Other areas of focus for the Chairman include border security, intelligence
Chairman McCaul’s recent border security bill includes funding for infrastructure, personnel, and technology, offering an integrative approach, said the staff director. This legislation directs DHS to complete the biometric entry/exit system, which is designed to identify individuals that remain in the country beyond their authorized period of admission. Brendan said that while progress has been made on the exit portion in airports, the land border crossings prove the most daunting piece left to execute. “Solving the [visa overstay problem] is the final recommendation of the 9/11 Commission that has yet to be addressed, it is really the last big outstanding issue.”
Committee staff has spent an entire year evaluating the DHS intelligence enterprise and recently published a report of their findings. The report offers analysis of the department’s intelligence structure and functions providing 30 recommendations to streamline DHS intelligence efforts. “It sheds a lot of light on the information sharing challenges that remain and the positive impact of the Data Framework,” said Brendan.
Some of the other items discussed included the future of the S&T mission at DHS and remaining hiring woes for the agency
Brendan discussed some of the hiring problems that have really slowed down DHS in recent years. He was curious for feedback from industry concerning the ongoing debate over the “suitability versus fitness” criteria in the personnel security process and how the lack of clarity from the department is creating numerous challenges. In response, Congresswoman Martha McSally has proposed legislation that that provides a polygraph waiver to certain groups of applicants, such as veterans, in an effort to expedite hiring processes.
The President’s budget proposes major cuts to the S&T Directorate at DHS, which sparked some interesting conversation. Brendan said that S&T is facing a crossroads right now in terms of where it should focus to best support the department’s various mission areas. “S&T has had some successes such as the Technology Transition to Practice program, but we need to ask the question what can S&T do that the components can’t do,” reflected Brendan.
