Homeland Security a Bureaucratic Behemoth after Eight Years

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Eight years ago Tuesday, the George W. Bush administration completed the largest reorganization and expansion of the federal government since the Cold War with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

The move combined 22 disparate federal agencies, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the U.S. Secret Service, under a new Cabinet-level office at the White House with a starting budget of $37 billion -- a 90-percent increase in homeland security spending over the year before.

But what began as a small operation, coordinated from inside the White House by first Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, has grown to a bureaucratic behemoth, with the second-largest combined workforce behind the Department of Defense and a budget of $57 billion requested for fiscal year 2012.

DHS now leads the effort to prevent and disrupt terror attacks, screen airline passengers and cargo across the country, combat the sex trafficking of children, and patrol the borders and cyberspace, among many other duties.

Officials say despite the broad range of responsibilities and steep start-up costs, the agency's work is paying off and getting more efficient every day.

"Our nation is more secure than it was two years ago, and more secure than when DHS was founded," Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote in a blog post to mark the anniversary. "Nonetheless, our work never stops."

Napolitano has heralded recent improvements in administrative efficiency, saving taxpayers close to $1 billion, and reduced reliance on outside contractors by 11 percent, or $420 million.

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