The Archive
Reference Library
The founding document as written, a plain overview of the seven Articles, and a glossary of archaic and legal terms.
National Security & Civil Liberties
Homeland Security Act
Enacted: 2002
George W. Bush
Created the Department of Homeland Security by consolidating 22 federal agencies — the largest federal reorganization since the National Security Act of 1947.
Signed by George W. Bush on November 25, 2002, the Homeland Security Act combined the Coast Guard, Secret Service, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Customs Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and eighteen other agencies into a new Department of Homeland Security. The reorganization aimed to eliminate the intelligence 'stovepipes' that the 9/11 Commission would later identify as contributing to the failure to prevent the attacks. DHS is now the third-largest federal department by employee count.