CNN: “There’s a renewed push to get Chad Wolf confirmed as Homeland Security secretary — a position in which he’s been serving in an acting capacity for a year — before Inauguration Day, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. In the past week, Homeland Security officials spoke to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office about bringing the nomination to a floor vote in the coming weeks – a move seemingly acknowledging both a forthcoming change in administrations and criticism that Wolf’s appointment was invalid.”
“The latest push is emblematic of how the Department of Homeland Security has operated for the last four years. Over the course of Donald Trump’s presidency, DHS – the third-largest federal department – has had five secretaries, only two of whom have been confirmed by the Senate, and has run into a flurry of questions over the legitimacy and authority of those leading in acting capacities. As leaders came and went, DHS was thrust to the forefront of some of Trump’s most controversial policies, including the ‘zero tolerance’ policy, which led to the separation of thousands of families at the US-Mexico border, and a series of policies that have made it exceedingly difficult for migrants to seek asylum in the US, among other changes to the immigration system.”