Before Sept. 11, one of the hottest debates in Washington was over Donald Rumsfeld’s plan for defense reform – first by modernizing aging military equipment and investing in new technologies, then (and here’s where the heat got turned up) by restructuring the branches of service to eliminate overlapping missions and the resulting inefficiencies and conflict. The objections from within the military to any such tinkering were so vigorous that, just a few days before the terrorist attacks, many in Congress were speculating openly on whether the defense secretary would resign immediately or wait a gentlemanly few months to get the Bush administration past its inaugural year.

For obvious and urgent reasons, the issue has been tabled and Mr. Rumsfeld’s solid performance during this crisis has greatly enhanced his job security. Now, a new – also urgent – defense reform initiative arises, regarding turf not previously perceived as anywhere close to the front, championed by a Cabinet member whose job did not even exist two months ago.

The front is the nation’s borders, not just the borders with Canada and Mexico, but also the borders that exist at every international airport and ship terminal. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, given the job less than two months ago of coordinating the responsible agencies, said Tuesday that those agencies should be merged, and that President Bush likely will propose it as part of the budget he will present in January.

The three primary agencies are the Border Patrol, the Customs Service and the Coast Guard, under the jurisdiction of three federal departments – Justice, Treasury and Transportation, respectively. Several bills to consolidate these agencies, and the 40-plus others that have some level of involvement in domestic security, have been introduced in Congress, but this is the first signal that the administration is committed to going beyond the vague concept of increased cooperation to full restructuring.

The issue is hardly new. In recent years, three blue-ribbon presidential and congressional commissions have recommended reorganizing the agencies that share duties for preventing dangerous people or cargo from entering the United States. The recommendations never went very far – the fiscal savings, the exposed gaps in intelligence gathering and information sharing were no match for the agencies’ aversion to giving up jurisdiction.

Mr. Ridge’s announcement of this major shift in administration policy came the same day the Senate’s Subcommittee on Investigations, of which Maine Sen. Susan Collins is ranking Republican member, heard shocking testimony from Border Patrol agents about the so-called “catch and release” policy in effect at the Canadian border. More than 12,000 people were arrested last year trying to enter the United States illegally from the north. Of those, nearly 2,000 were told to appear at an immigration hearing a month or so later, released with little or no bond and allowed to enter, often with no criminal background check performed and no attempt made to track how many actually showed up for the hearings. Agents also testified that those who question the policy are often subject to reprimand.

That’s just one of the agencies Mr. Ridge must take on and the vigorous objections to tinkering already are being heard. Unlike Mr. Rumsfeld’s defense reform effort, which was overtaken by events, Mr. Ridge’s is propelled by them.