From the archives: Bernard Kerik nominated to run Homeland Security Department

When Bernard Kerik emerged a few days ago as the leading candidate to run the Homeland Security Department, the reaction in Washington was simple and uniform.

"Who?"

The surprise - disbelief in some quarters - that greeted Kerik's nomination Friday indicates the challenges the former New York City police commissioner faces in winning over Washington lawmakers and bureaucrats.

While Kerik received wide praise as a no-nonsense former police chief, some said his lack of Washington experience could hamper his ability to run the second-largest federal department, with 180,000 employees.

"The question is can someone who is an outsider and doesn't understand the intricacies of the 22 departments he's merging get the department to function?" said a congressional aide. "This isn't a person well-versed in bureaucratic organizational structure."

'Unconventional choice'

Another aide said he is better at breaking up agencies than building fledgling ones, such as Homeland Security. "He's more of someone you send to break something down, not to build."

During confirmation hearings early next year, Kerik is likely to face questions about his background that could tarnish the image he is trying to build as street-tough cop. He used city police to research his memoirs and made millions after leaving the NYPD in late 2001. His stint training Iraqi police last year still generates questions about its effectiveness.

The Republican-controlled Senate is widely expected to confirm Kerik by a large margin.

"The president gets the benefit of the doubt on his nominees," said a Senate aide. "It's an unconventional choice, but that's not necessarily bad."

The aide said Kerik's lack of Washington experience may not matter, particularly because he ran a 40,000-member police department, the nation's largest: "He comes from the toughest city in the world."

The hard-charging style that elevated Kerik from street cop to police commissioner could help him push along foundering security initiatives. "He's going to bring a lot of energy to the job," said Christian Beckner, a homeland security fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

But it's unclear whether he will have the patience to weather hours of congressional hearings and the savvy to hold his ground against powerful cabinet members such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales, the nominee for attorney general.

"That's going to be tough," said James Carafano, a homeland security analyst at the Heritage Foundation think tank.

Competing interests

New York lawmakers hope Kerik will direct more anti-terrorism funds to cities such as New York that have been terrorist targets. But Kerik will face a hard time changing a politically driven funding formula that guarantees millions for each state. Rural lawmakers hold powerful positions in Congress and will use their knowledge of political intricacies to make sure their states get money, observers said.

Homeland security employees also hope Kerik will help them get better equipment and training because of his background. "With that experience to draw on, we're confident that he will fight to see that our homeland defenders have the tools, resources and training they need to keep our nation safe," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents 40,000 workers in the department.

In a brief appearance with Bush on Friday, Kerik said of emergency workers, "You have my respect, my admiration, and I look forward to the opportunity to join with you in protecting the nation we all love."

But Kerik's law-enforcement background could cause him to emphasize security regardless of its impact on commerce. John Magaw, the first administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and a former head of the Secret Service, was forced out two years ago partly because he was seen as insufficiently concerned with accommodating air travel.

"The risk of having somebody with a law-enforcement background is they're going to look at security as something that needs to be 100 percent versus trying to figure out where the marginal trade-offs are between security and other points," Beckner said.

"He is somebody who's had to deal with budgets and make tradeoffs," he added. "So I think he'll be attuned to that."