But it is also important to lay down some criteria for evaluating his new office in the weeks and months ahead. Americans need a yardstick against which to measure this crucial job, while Congress can more responsibly assess whether Ridge needs the additional powers that can be granted only through permanent law.

These criteria range from the seemingly mundane to the broadest of goals, but we're convinced that all will prove important as Ridge finds his way in political and official Washington.

1. Ridge needs to be first in line for information.

It's hard to tell just who gets information at what point on the homeland security front. What we do know is that Ridge needs to get the first call from the front lines, not the last. He also needs to have access to all paper moving in and out of the Oval Office, including all briefing documents from the National Security Council, if he is to have any chance of influencing key decisions.

2. He needs access to the principals.

The Office of Homeland Security cannot succeed if Ridge can't call meetings with Cabinet members and the heads of the agencies he coordinates. He should meet with his counterparts in the Cabinet, not their deputies.

3. Ridge needs to be a gatekeeper in the budget and personnel process.

Two things matter in bureaucratic politics: money and people. If Ridge is to have any hope of persuading agencies to work together, he must be able to influence the budget process and the allocation of new employees. Without access to these levers, his sole power rests on the president's willingness to intervene on his behalf, which in turn rests on Ridge's readiness to play this trump card.

Decisions are being made about the allocation of $20 billion in emergency spending that Congress has approved for homeland security. And the Office of Management and Budget is making the key marks on fiscal 2003 budgets, including dollars for new employees. If someone from the Office of Homeland Security is not involved in those meetings, Ridge will have lost a critical lever to force needed cooperation.

4. Ridge needs a permanent staff that owes its loyalty to him, and him alone.

Ridge has made some very good appointments to his team, several of which were announced Tuesday. But many of the members of his staff are still "detailees" from a variety of federal agencies, including some from agencies he has been asked to oversee in his effort to build a strong homeland defense. No matter where they come from, Ridge should ask all those on his team, including temporary employees, to fill out the same financial disclosure forms that other White House staff must complete. That is part of ensuring the legitimacy of his effort.

5. He needs a staff within shouting distance.

Ridge has been given an office in the West Wing, close to the Oval Office and his longtime friend the president. But most of his staff will be housed miles from the White House or even the Old Executive Office Building, which former vice president Walter Mondale once described as like being in Baltimore. Ridge's staff could end up being distant players, both literally and figuratively.

6. Ridge needs a say in the selection of appointees at the agencies he oversees.

As of this week there were still 35 vacancies among the 164 Senate-confirmed positions in agencies central to the war on terrorism and homeland defense. Ridge should have a say in choosing the 14 appointees yet to be named, including the deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the director of the National Institutes of Health and the candidate for commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

7. Ridge needs to be involved in all management reviews of the homeland defense establishment.

Under the Government Performance and Results Act, every federal agency is required to submit an annual performance plan outlining its agenda for action. Ridge should be asked to approve those plans, and should be given access to all Office of Inspector General audits and investigations in any of the agencies he coordinates. Ridge should be given a role in helping rebuild the homeland security workforce and should be consulted on all legislation regarding homeland security.

These criteria go to the essential questions of Tom Ridge's ability to get what he needs, and the government's ability to give what he asks.

On Oct. 8, the day he was sworn in, Ridge noted that he and his office had been given "an extraordinary mission," then added: "But we will carry it out."

We hope he is given the right tools to do so.

Bob Graham is a Democratic senator from Florida and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Paul C. Light is vice president and director of Governmental Studies at the Brookings Institution.