Trump Taps New Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

Reuters reports that Chad Wolf, an officialat the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will be the agency’s new acting secretary, said President Donald Trump.  The DHS Secretary position has seen many changes under the President.   Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan announced his resignation last month.

Wolf is the current Acting Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy, and Plans. He had previously served in several positions in the DHS, including as Chief of Staff of the Transportation Security Administration and Chief of Staff of DHS under Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Immigration hawks had pushed for Trump to appoint acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli and acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said the White House should swiftly nominate a more hard-line secretary. “It’s not as though [Wolf] is going to go down and rip up the fence and let people swarm in,” Krikorian said. “He isn’t going to have a fire in his belly for carrying out the president’s agenda.”

KJ