08 April 2019 - Secretary of Homeland Security Resigns from Trump’s administration
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigns
Diane Bartz and Patricia Zengerle (The Globe and Mail, 07/04/2019)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversaw President Donald Trump’s bitterly contested immigration policies during her tumultuous 16-month tenure, resigned on Sunday amid a surge in the number of migrants at the border with Mexico.
A senior administration official said Trump asked for Nielsen’s resignation and she gave it.
Trump, who has recently expressed growing anger about the situation at the border, said on Twitter: “Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service.”
Democrats Sound Off On Kirstjen Nielsen’s Resignation: ‘About Time’ She Left
Amy Russo (The Huffington Post, 07/04/2019)
Immediately following President Donald Trump’s announcement that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was resigning, Democrats doubled down on their criticism of the official, recalling her past defense of the administration’s policy of separating migrant families seeking asylum at the southern U.S. border.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would replace Nielsen as acting secretary.
While certain lawmakers said it was time for her to go, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) identified her departure as a sign that Trump’s own staffers “aren’t radical enough” to suit his positions.
Kirstjen Nielsen Enforced Cruelty at the Border. Her Replacement Could Be Worse.
The Editorial Board (New York Times, 07/04/2019)
Time finally ran out for Kirstjen Nielsen, President Trump’s beleaguered secretary of homeland security.
The terms of Ms. Nielsen’s departure were unclear. She met with the president on Sunday evening to discuss continuing problems at the southern border. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that Ms. Nielsen “will be leaving her position” and thanked her for her service, implying he had asked her to step down. Ms. Nielsen issued a formal letter of resignation, saying it was the “right time for me to step aside.” Considering the long-simmering tensions between the president and Ms. Nielsen, the most surprising thing about her departure may be that it didn’t happen months ago.
She was said to have become increasingly insecure in her job in recent weeks, as Mr. Trump repeatedly railed about the chaos at the border and vowed to move in a “tougher” direction. The president grew impatient with Ms. Nielsen’s insistence that federal law and international obligations limited her actions.
Kirstjen Nielsen: Walking a tightrope working for Trump
Tara McKelvey (BBC, 18/03/2019)
During a House homeland security hearing on 6 March, Ms Nielsen said that border agents do not put children in cages in detention facilities. She explained: "If you mean a cage like this." She raised her hands above her head and drew an outline of a small, rectangular-shaped dog kennel.
Democrats disagreed. Regardless of the size of the wire-enclosed areas where children were held, the contraptions were still cages, said Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.
Ms Nielsen acted as an unwavering advocate for the president's "zero tolerance" border policy and for other measures during the hearing. She expressed staunch support for his national emergency and his wall and said she was working to ensure that the nation's borders were fully secure.
These are people who've been fired or resigned from Trump's White House
Thomson Reuters (CBC, 08/12/2018)
U.S. President Donald Trump's White House has had the highest turnover of senior-level staff of the past five presidents, according to figures compiled by the Brookings Institution think-tank.
And the number of those leaving the West Wing may still grow.
Here are some senior figures who have been fired or quit the administration since Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017.