Homeland Security’s No. 2 official will retire in April

WASHINGTON – The No. 2 official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is retiring after a tenure that included several months as acting secretary.

Elaine Duke said Friday that she would step down in April with “mixed emotion.”

She was a top department official under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama before leaving to run a consulting firm. President Donald Trump brought her back as deputy secretary.

Duke became acting secretary when John Kelly resigned to be White House chief of staff and helped guide the administration’s response to 2017’s hurricanes. A Kelly confidant, Kirstjen Nielsen, was named permanent replacement.

A successor was not immediately named. The position requires Senate confirmation.