WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Two more senior officials are quitting the troubled U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Jack Johnson, head of internal security, and Larry Hale, deputy chief of cybersecurity, this week became the latest -- but not, insiders say, the last -- in a lengthening line of senior officials to announce their departure since Secretary Tom Ridge said last month that he was leaving.
Hale's departure follows that of cybersecurity chief Amit Yoran, who quit on a day's notice last November. His departure will leave the department's cybersecurity division "leaderless," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, in a statement.
"We have to have more direction in cybersecurity," Schumer said, calling for "these critical leadership positions" to be filled "immediately."
Neither departure was announced by the department, but spokesman Kirk Whitworth told United Press International Yoran's post had been filled on an acting basis. "We remain under the effective leadership of (Acting Director) Andy Purdey," he said
Johnson's decision was first reported Tuesday by the trade publication CQ Homeland Security.
