James McCament currently serves as the Senior Presidential Transition Official for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). He most recently served as CBP's interim Chief Operating Officer (COO) from October 2023-October 2024. As COO, CBP's third highest leadership position, Mr. McCament worked with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner to rapidly identify and address operational frontline requirements for the agency’s more than 65,000 employees. He did so while providing strategic direction and oversight of CBP's enterprise services and operational support components while externally partnering with industry leaders and other stakeholders to help drive innovation across the agency. 

Mr. McCament is a founding civil service member of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and has served in multiple leadership roles since DHS was founded in March 2003. Prior to joining CBP, Mr. McCament was appointed as the first Deputy Under Secretary of the Department’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans (PLCY). In that civil service position, he ensured DHS-wide policy development, implementation, and strategic planning through oversight of employees working within five Assistant Secretary-led PLCY offices: Border Security and Immigration; Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience; Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention; International Affairs; and Trade and Economic Security. 

Mr. McCament previously served from March 2017 to March 2018 as the Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where he was responsible for overseeing agency operations, over $4 billion budget, more than 200 offices and 19,000 employees. Prior to serving as USCIS Deputy Director, he served from 2015 to 2017 as Deputy Associate Director for USCIS Service Center Operations, overseeing the work of the five USCIS service centers in their processing of more than 4 million applications received annually.