UNITED STATES
Acting Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kevin McAleenan (pictured) says he is stepping down after just six months in the job.
In April, Mr McAleenan became the fourth person to lead the Agency under President Donald Trump after the President asked for the resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen.
Before taking up the position, Mr McAleenan served as Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, one of the Agencies operating under the DHS.
In his usual way of announcing such moves, Mr Trump took to Twitter to say: “Kevin now, after many years in Government, wants to spend more time with his family and go to the private sector.”
The President said he would be announcing a new Acting Secretary shortly from among “many wonderful candidates”.
Mr Trump, who has made cracking down on legal and illegal immigration a signature issue of his presidency and 2020 re-election effort, said he and Mr McAleenan had “worked well together with border crossings being way down”.
Despite the praise, Mr Trump never formally nominated Mr McAleenan to run the Agency.
Chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Bennie Thompson said Mr McAleenan’s departure was a troubling sign for the sprawling Department, whose responsibilities include border security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity and emergency management.
“This will only add to the chaos for a Department where there are chronically too many leadership vacancies and positions held by unconfirmed, acting officials,” Mr Thompson said.
In a parting statement, Mr McAleenan said that during his six-month tenure DHS had “made tremendous progress mitigating the border security and humanitarian crisis we faced this year”.
Washington, DC, 13 October 2019
