Topic: Julie Myers

Julie L. Myers (born 1969) was the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She assumed the job following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush on January 4, 2006. Previously, Myers worked for the Office of Independent Counsel under Kenneth Starr and was a lead prosecutor in the Independent Counsel's failed case against Susan McDougal.

After leaving the Office of Independent Counsel, Myers was appointed Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce. In that capacity, she oversaw 170 employees and a $25 million budget for one year. She also is the niece of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Richard Myers, and is the wife of John F. Wood, the current U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and the former chief of staff for the Secretary of Homeland Security. Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security at the time, was her boss.

On June 30, 2005, Myers was nominated by President Bush to head up the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. On September 15 she testified in front of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The committee approved Myers's nomination on a strict party-line vote (with Republicans voting for the nomination). The full Senate never voted on the nomination, and President Bush gave her a recess appointment on January 4, 2006, to remain in effect until January 3, 2007. He renominated her on January 9, 2007.