With the news that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is stepping down from his post, Rhode Island native Peter Gaynor will become acting secretary, in charge of security for the coming inauguration. Gaynor was confirmed as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in early 2020 in a Senate vote of 81 to 8. He had been the agency's acting director since 2019. The bipartisan confirmation vote positioned Gaynor as the nation’s top emergency manager early last year as the coronavirus spread across the United States. Gaynor's career in public service began in the U.S. Marine Corps. He joined after graduating from Warwick’s Pilgrim High School in 1977.