The White House has announced President Biden’s intention to nominate Kenneth Wainstein as undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The I&A position is a member of the Intelligence Community (IC) and is “the only IC element statutorily charged with delivering to our State, Local, Tribal and Territorial, and private sector partners, and developing intelligence from those partners for the Department and the IC.”
According to DHS, the office aims to be a superior intelligence enterprise that drives intelligence integration at all levels and equips DHS with the information and intel it needs to keep the homeland safe, secure, and resilient.
If confirmed to the position by the Senate, Wainstein would shift from his current role in the private sector as a litigation partner for the offices of David Polk & Wardwell in Washington, D.C.
Wainstein has served in several Federal roles over the past 20-plus years.
From 1989 to 2001, he was a Federal prosecutor in both the Southern District of New York and D.C. In 2001, Wainstein was appointed Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; from 2002 to 2004, he served as General Counsel of the FBI and as Chief of Staff to Director Robert Mueller; and in 2006, he was confirmed as the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice.
