On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Kirstjen Nielsen to lead the Homeland Security Department, 62 to 37, making her the first former agency employee to lead the department. Elaine Duke, who has been acting homeland security secretary since John Kelly stepped down to be White House chief of staff in July, will stay on as Nielsen's deputy. Nielsen was Kelly's chief of staff at Homeland Security and White House deputy. She will take the reins of the third-largest department in the federal government, charged with border patrol, immigration enforcement, aviation security, domestic counterterrorism, and disaster response. Nielsen has worked at the Transportation Security Administration and tackled cybersecurity after leaving the government in 2007.
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