Ervin out as DHS inspector

Richard Skinner has taken over as the acting inspector general for the Homeland Security Department.

The former inspector general for DHS, Clark Kent Ervin, lost his job on Dec. 8 when the 108th Congress ended its session. Skinner is the deputy inspector general for the Homeland Security Department (DHS).

Ervin was a recess appointment by President Bush on Dec. 26, of 2003, said Tamara Faulkner, a spokeswoman for the inspector general's office.

"On Jan. 21, 2004, the president resubmitted his name to the Senate and the Senate, for whatever reason, chose not to act on it," she said. "And recess appointments — as you may or may not know — expire at the end of the session or in this case the end of the Congress. ... We have no indication to that will lead us to think that he's going to be renominated."

During his tenure, Ervin has investigated problems at DHS, including cybersecurity, grants distribution, watch list integration and more authority for the chief information officer over information technology functions.

Incidentally, on what became Ervin's last day, his office released a report on the major management challenges facing the department.