Todd Lyons, who led Immigration and Customs Enforcement as its acting director, has taken a job consulting on national security and defense — but there’s a catch built into federal law that limits what he can do right away.
Because of his former role at ICE, Lyons can’t engage with the Department of Homeland Security for one year, per a federal revolving-door restriction that applies to senior government officials who move into the private sector. The rule is designed to prevent former agency heads from immediately trading on inside access to the agencies they once ran.
The restriction doesn’t bar Lyons from working in the field. He can consult with clients, advise on strategy, and work across the national security and defense space — he just can’t contact or appear before DHS on their behalf during that window. One year. Then the bar lifts.
Lyons departed ICE after the agency’s tenure under the Trump administration’s second-term immigration enforcement push, which put ICE at the center of a sharp national debate over detention practices and deportation operations. His exit and quick pivot to private consulting follows a pattern common among former senior DHS officials, who tend to move into the defense and homeland security contracting world after government service.
NPR reported his new role on Sunday, June 15, 2026. The name of the consulting firm — and Lyons’ specific clients — weren’t disclosed in the report.
Reported by NPR. Read the original report.
