United States Secretary of Homeland Security

The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Seal of the Department of Homeland Security
Flag of the secretary
Incumbent Markwayne Mullin since March 24, 2026
Department of Homeland Security
Style	Madam Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet Homeland Security Council National Security Council
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	St. Elizabeths West Campus, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	6 U.S.C. § 112
Formation	January 24, 2003 (2003-01-24)
First holder	Tom Ridge
Succession	Eighteenth
Deputy	Deputy Secretary
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I
Website	dhs.gov

List of secretaries of homeland security

Prior to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, there existed an assistant to the president for the Office of Homeland Security, which was created following the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Parties

      Republican (8)       Democratic (4)       Independent (5)

Status

      Denotes acting homeland security secretary

No.		Portrait	Name	Senate vote	Term of office			State of residence	President
					Took office	Left office	Duration
1			Ridge, TomTom Ridge (Born Aug 26, 1945)	94–0	January 24, 2003	February 1, 2005	2 years, 8 days	Pennsylvania		Bush, George W.George W. Bush (2001–2009)
–			Loy, JamesJames Loy (Born Aug 10, 1942) Acting	–	February 1, 2005	February 15, 2005	14 days	Pennsylvania
2			Chertoff, MichaelMichael Chertoff (Born Nov 28, 1953)	98–0	February 15, 2005	January 21, 2009	3 years, 341 days	New Jersey
3			Napolitano, JanetJanet Napolitano (Born Nov 29, 1957)	Voice vote	January 21, 2009	September 6, 2013	4 years, 228 days	Arizona		Obama, BarackBarack Obama (2009–2017)
–			Beers, RandRand Beers (Born Nov 30, 1942) Acting	–	September 6, 2013	December 23, 2013	108 days	District of Columbia
4			Johnson, JehJeh Johnson (Born Sept 11, 1957)	78–16	December 23, 2013	January 20, 2017	3 years, 28 days	New Jersey
5			Kelly, John F.John F. Kelly (Born May 11, 1950)	88–11	January 20, 2017	July 31, 2017	192 days	Massachusetts		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump (2017–2021)
–			Duke, ElaineElaine Duke (Born June 26, 1958) Acting	–	July 31, 2017	December 6, 2017	128 days	Ohio
6			Nielsen, KirstjenKirstjen Nielsen (Born May 14, 1972)	62–37	December 6, 2017	April 10, 2019	1 year, 125 days	Florida
–			McAleenan, KevinKevin McAleenan (Born Sept 5, 1971) Acting; unlawful tenure	–	April 10, 2019	November 13, 2019	217 days	Hawaii
–			Wolf, ChadChad Wolf (Born June 21, 1976) Acting; unlawful tenure	–	November 13, 2019	January 11, 2021	1 year, 59 days	Virginia
–			Gaynor, PetePete Gaynor (Born 1968) Acting	–	January 11, 2021	January 20, 2021	9 days	Rhode Island
–			Pekoske, DavidDavid Pekoske (Born May 5, 1955) Acting	–	January 20, 2021	February 2, 2021	13 days	Connecticut		Biden, JoeJoe Biden (2021–2025)
7			Mayorkas, AlejandroAlejandro Mayorkas (Born Nov 24, 1959)	56–43	February 2, 2021	January 20, 2025	3 years, 353 days	District of Columbia
–			Huffman, BenjamineBenjamine Huffman Acting	–	January 20, 2025	January 25, 2025	5 days	Texas		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump (2025–present)
8			Noem, KristiKristi Noem (Born Nov 30, 1971)	59–34	January 25, 2025	March 24, 2026	1 year, 58 days	South Dakota
9			Mullin, MarkwayneMarkwayne Mullin (Born July 26, 1977)	54–45	March 24, 2026	Incumbent	121 days	Oklahoma

Living former Secreatries of Homeland Security

As of July 2026, there are ten living former secretaries of homeland security, the oldest being Tom Ridge, the first ever person to fill the position (served 2003-2005). This is the only cabinet position in which all former occupiants of the position are still living

• 

  Tom Ridge
  (2003-2005)
  

• 

  Michael Chertoff
  (2005-2009)

• 

  Janet Napolitano
  (2009-2013)

• 

  Jeh Johnson
  (2013-2017)

• 

  John F. Kelly
  (2017)

• 

  Kirstjen Nielsen
  (2017-2019)

• 

  Kevin McAleenan
  (2019)
  (De facto, disputed)

• 

  Chad Wolf
  (2019-2021)
  (De facto, unlawful)

• 

  Alejandro Mayorkas
  (2021-2025)

• 

  Kristi Noem
  (2025-2026)

.