ghost-rider,
You are kidding right? The dept of homeland security is not suddenly going to hire a couple of hundred thousand new people to work for the INS, so the premise that the HS people coming to take charge is wrong. There is going to be no fundamental change to the life of the IIO, all that is going to happen is that the person they report too is going to change. Instead of John Ashcroft, they will now report to Tom Ridge. That is ALL!
My personal take on this situation is, that after RFE they have no further reason to hold you back and the pressure increases on a day by day basis to start approving cases. Hence they let those, they can't keep behind, go! As simple as that. As far as the people without RFE's are concerned, hold your horses, you will be hearing for INS one way or the other soon! Either by means of a RFE or an approval, based upon the mood of the IIO.