Tracy A. Henke

Contributions to the USA PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act removed a great deal of freedom from the directors of the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute of Justice, giving their authority to the assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs. At the time, Henke was deputy to Deborah Daniels, who held the assistant attorney general position. A report from the New York Times alleged that Henke was the one who had added language to the Act that undercut the agencies' independence. This reportedly resulted in statistical reports and grant decisions going through Henke and Daniels before being publicly released, and some employees said this had introduced several-months-long delays. The report showed, and the announcement summarized, that the rate at which whites, blacks and Hispanics were stopped was about the same, but that once stopped, black and Hispanic drivers were two to three times more likely to suffer a negative consequence, such as being searched, handcuffed, or arrested. For the press release, Henke insisted that the first finding be included (that there was no apparent difference in the rate at which different ethnic groups were stopped), but that the second finding be removed (that there was a significant different in how different ethnic groups were treated once stopped) because she didn't believe it accurately reflected the findings of the study.

Greenfeld refused to make the changes recommended by Henke, and then complained that Henke was trying to exert political pressure on him to make the changes. Her appointment was controversial, with some raising concerns over the racial profiling report, and others, such as P.J. Crowley, opining that she lacked experience for the job. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) also expressed concerns over Bush's choice to appoint Henke before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on the appointment. Lieberman had expressed concerns during the Committee hearing that her actions involving the racial profiling study "may have undermined the office's reputation for objectivity and independence." Henke and Department of Justice officials stated that the total program allocation provided by Congress was $500 million less than the year prior, explaining the difference in allocation. Henke faced criticism from members of Congress who said the funding decisions inexplicable. Henke resigned from the position in the wake of this criticism, effective October 31, 2006. Representative Peter T. King (R-NY) said of the incident: "Tracy Henke had to leave the department. Very simply, she did a terrible job in the decisions she made to award grant money. ... And the department realized that."

Private sector career After leaving the Department of Homeland Security, Henke joined the lobbying firm The Ashcroft Group, which was run by her former boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Effective November 18, 2019, Henke joined the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' senior leadership team as the Vice President of Government Relations & Protocol. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Henke was a staunch advocate for the center, requesting assistance from top House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff in order to protect the "Congressionally mandated mission" of the center until it was deemed safe to re-open to the public.

Henke served as the Chief Policy Officer for Greater St. Louis, Inc. (GSL) and President of its ChamberSTL Initiative from September 2021 to August 2023, shortly after the organization's founding. GSL is an organization working to foster inclusive economic growth.

On August 4, 2023, Henke began working with the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis (AMICSTL) as the organization's Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Executive Director.