Departing Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff agreed to stay at the helm until 9 a.m. Wednesday "to ensure a smooth transition," said Sean Smith, spokesman for Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's secretary-designate.
Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency chief R. David Paulison, among others, will be at separate posts overseeing operations on Inauguration Day. The U.S. Secret Service is the lead agency for security operations, and will oversee the day from its Multi-Agency Coordination Center.
About 300 FEMA employees will also be on duty around the city and at FEMA's National Response Coordination Center just south of the Mall, where Paulison and his deputy, retired coast guard vice admiral Harvey E. Johnson Jr., will be overnighting in their offices before leaving them behind for good on Wednesday.
"I just don't want to walk out the door and say, 'You got it now.' We're going to make sure you've got it as smoothly as possible, keeping a handful of people here to hand it off, and then we'll go home," said Paulison.
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