Gary Johnson: End the Department of Homeland Security
With the capture of the New York City and New Jersey bombings suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson weighed in on the effectiveness of law enforcement and the future of the Department of Homeland Security.
Although Johnson views efforts to prevent and stop terrorism as “working all up to a point,” he’s sees room for improving the law enforcement’s effectiveness in fighting terrorism.
“Is it a question of more resources? If it’s a question of more resources should be directed, you know, let’s take those resources away from regime change, let’s take the resources away from war and put it into protecting you and I here at home,” Johnson told the FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto.
Johnson then questioned whether the creation of the Department of Homeland Security actually helped improved national security or just added a costly layer of bureaucracy that got in the way of law enforcement’s effectiveness.
“Are things really better from a reorganization standpoint, the Department of Homeland Security? I think it’s just another layer of bureaucracy, it’s just spending more money than we have to spend.”
When asked if he would end the Department of Homeland Security if he were elected president, Johnson responded, “I would. I would just devolve those agencies back to where they came from in the first place. Put the FBI in charge of all this. I think we can all recognize the FBI’s been around for a long time, they’ve got a great reputation and going forward this would be FBI-driven.“
Johnson explained that it is just good business practices to re-evaluate government decisions and to sometimes admit when they are not working.
“Why is it that government makes the perfect choices and business doesn’t? Well, business doesn’t but they admit to it.”
Johnson then weighed in on Americans’ concerns about privacy and the methods the government uses to fight terrorism and track down suspects such as Ahmad Khan Rahami.
“I’d like to see government more transparent. I’d like to see all of us understanding better what the government is doing and understand better what the outlook is and how we might improve on this.”