President Trump has decided to soon get rid of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whom he has blamed for a surge in illegal border crossings…
President Trump has decided to soon get rid of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whom he has blamed for a surge in illegal border crossings and criticized her immigration enforcement efforts, according to a report.
Five current and former White House officials told The Washington Post that Nielsen may be ousted in the coming weeks. Three of them said she may be gone as early as this week.
Trump canceled a scheduled trip with Nielsen this week to visit troops at the US border in South Texas and told his advisers this weekend that he wants her out as soon as possible, the officials said.
He has long griped about what he views as Nielsen’s poor performance on immigration enforcement and is believed to be seeking a replacement who will better enforce his policies.
Chief of Staff John Kelly — who installed Nielsen in her post — is fighting her pending dismissal and is trying to delay it, according to the paper – but his tenure with Team Trump also is shaky, three White House officials said.
DHS officials declined to address her potential departure.
“The Secretary is honored to lead the men and women of DHS and is committed to implementing the President’s security-focused agenda to protect Americans from all threats and will continue to do so,” spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Nielsen has been unhappy in her job for several months but has been reluctant to leave before reaching her one-year anniversary on Dec. 6, according to colleagues.
Trump has openly criticized Nielsen during Cabinet meetings and has described her as a “Bushie,” referring to her previous service under President George W. Bush and meant to question her loyalty.
Her departure would leave the government’s third-largest agency, which has 240,000 employees and a $60 billion budget, without a leader because the deputy secretary job has been vacant since April. The White House has not sent a nomination for that post to Congress
Unless Trump were to name an acting secretary, Claire M. Grady, the undersecretary for management, would handle the day-to-day task of running the agency.
The president could tap one of the agency’s other Senate-confirmed principals, including Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, and David Pekoske, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.
“If I were advising the White House, I’d encourage them to nominate someone with executive branch experience,” one senior DHS official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the paper.
“This will be our fourth secretary in two years. The last thing we want is someone who needs hand-holding.”
