Press
January 25, 2025
Partnership for Public Service statement on the confirmation of DHS secretary Kristi Noem
The nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service released the following statement from President and CEO Max Stier on the confirmation of Kristi Noem to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security:
“We congratulate Kristi Noem on her confirmation as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, an organization with about 260,000 dedicated career employees who handle border security, immigration detention, citizenship processing, presidential protection, airport security and natural disasters, among other important responsibilities,” said Stier.
“As Krisi Noem oversees a number of high-profile matters, it will be critical for the new secretary to pay close attention to the needs and concerns of the department’s employees,” Stier added. “While DHS has recently improved on its Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® employee engagement and satisfaction score, as well as its ranking among large federal agencies, it still receives low marks from members of the civil service. This provides an important opportunity for the new secretary and her leadership team to vigorously engage and motivate the workforce with the goal of helping the department fulfill its many critical missions.”
“The Partnership stands ready to work with the new secretary on management and workplace issues with the aim of improving service to the public,” Stier concluded.
The Partnership’s Department of Homeland Security agency performance dashboard provides insights about the operations, workforce and organizational health of the department. Some key data points include:
- 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government score and rank: 60.8, ranking 14 out of 17 large agencies
- Effective Leadership Score: 65.9, ranking 15 out of 17 large agencies
- Number of Senate-confirmed positions: 17
The Partnership also produces and maintains several resources to assess and analyze the health of the federal government. Earlier this month, the organization launched a political appointments tracker with The Washington Post to follow the progress of roughly 800 of President Trump’s Senate-confirmed political appointments. The annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings measure employee engagement government-wide as well as at individual departments, agencies and subcomponents. Additionally, our Vision for a Better Government provides areas of focus for management reforms.
During the past 24 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. We work across administrations to help transform the way government works by providing agencies with the data insights they need to succeed, developing effective leaders, inspiring the next generation to public service, facilitating smooth presidential transitions and recognizing exceptional federal employees.
Visit ourpublicservice.org, follow us @PublicService and subscribe today to get the latest federal news, information on upcoming Partnership programs and events, and more.
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