White House withdraws Trump's ICE nominee amid Republican opposition
One senator from Trump's party blocked the bid as he demands information about the fatal killings of US citizens by immigration enforcement.
White House pulls Trump’s ICE pick after Republican resistance
The White House has withdrawn President Donald Trump’s nominee to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a Republican senator joined Democrats in opposing his confirmation.
Richard Schroyer was working as a senior aide to the secretary of Homeland Security when Trump chose him in June to lead the immigration enforcement agency.
On Thursday, the White House pulled his nomination in a brief memo that gave no reason for the move.
Republican Sen Rand Paul had blocked the nomination while seeking more details about ICE and Border Patrol shootings that killed two Americans in Minneapolis in January.
Before joining the US Marines, Schroyer spent 29 years with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. He is a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullins, whose department oversees ICE and other immigration and border agencies. Trump’s choice of Schroyer was viewed as unexpected because he lacked experience running such a large law enforcement agency.
The post is among many that require US Senate confirmation. Schroyer’s nomination never reached a full Senate vote and had been stalled in the Senate’s Homeland Security committee.
ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since 2017 and has instead been run by a series of acting chiefs. It is now led by David Venturella, a former private prison executive, after Todd Lyon said in April that he was leaving the top job.
Thursday’s withdrawal is a setback for Trump and Mullins, as the White House continues Trump’s campaign promise to carry out the largest deportation effort in US history.
Sen Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he would not move the nomination to a full vote until the White House supplied more information about the Minneapolis killings.
National protests were held earlier this year after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Both US citizens, the two were protesting when they were fatally shot in separate confrontations with ICE agents in January.