He was briefly Acting Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1989 during the transition from the Reagan to the Bush administrations.
In 1974, he became a partner at the law firm of Stinson, Mag & Fizzell in Kansas City, Missouri.
[1][5] As General Counsel, Dorsey formed part of the selection committee for public money for housing, alongside Thomas Demery and Carl Covitz.
The committee was the subject of controversy when a federal audit released in 1989 said that most of the money approved by it went to developers with HUD connections.
[12][13] Dorsey became Chief of Administrative Services of the newly-founded United States Department of Homeland Security on February 15, 2003, serving until June 11, 2004.