Loy, Hutchinson plan DHS departures

Loy, Hutchinson plan DHS departures    Adm. James Loy, second in command at the Department of Homeland Security, and Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for the border and transportation security bureau, are expected to soon follow their boss, Tom Ridge, out the door of the massive agency they helped get off the ground, according to two former DHS officials with close ties to the department’s senior leadership.
   Deputy Secretary Loy has told associates he plans to resign sometime between now and March, an ex-official said. Loy, who was sworn in exactly one year ago today, took himself out of consideration for the department’s top spot now expected to go to Bernard Kerik, the source said. Loy, who was commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1998 to May 2002, is ready for a break after 40 years in the military and government.
   Ridge resigned earlier this week and said he will stay on until Feb. 1 unless his successor is confirmed sooner by the Senate. Kerik was mentioned as one of several possible candidates to fill Ridge’s shoes, but Loy’s name never was cited in media reports as one of them.
   Loy previously served as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, one of the agencies that became part of DHS in 2003. He was named deputy administrator of TSA in May 2002 by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. He took over the agency shortly thereafter when the agency’s first administrator, John Magaw, was forced out for ineffectiveness and managed TSA’s transition to DHS.
   Hutchinson, a former three-term Republican congressman from Arkansas, actively sought a promotion to Ridge’s position, but White House officials do not have confidence in him and instead have suggested he return to Arkansas to seek public office, the source said.
   Possibilities include running for governor or Congress in 2006. Arkansas has a Republican governor, Mike Huckabee. A Senate seat doesn’t come up for election until 2008.
   Hutchinson’s efforts to move his office beyond policy development and oversight and take more hands-on management of Customs and Border Protection has led to tension between him and the agency’s commissioner, Robert Bonner, industry, and current and former government officials, have said.