Tag: Chad Wolf

Acting DHS chief Chad Wolf stepping down

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Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is stepping down from his position, just nine days before President Trump leaves office.

He is the latest Cabinet official to leave the Trump administration following deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol last week. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos both announced plans to step down last week. 

Wolf’s exit comes amid growing concerns about potential security threats surrounding President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Continue reading.

Acting homeland security secretary Wolf to step down, nine days ahead of Biden inauguration

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Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf is stepping down, nine days ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and amid widespread fears about security in the aftermath of the mob attack on the Capitol last week.

In Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday that the House will move forward with impeaching President Trump for a second time if Vice President Pence does not seek to remove him under the 25th Amendment by Wednesday.

Her threat came shortly after House Democrats formally introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the takeover of the U.S. Capitol by a violent pro-Trump mob on Wednesday. Democrats say that measure already has 218 co-sponsors, enough to guarantee passage. Continue reading.

Senate GOP eases Wolf’s path to becoming Homeland Security secretary

Wolf, acting chief for nearly a year, defended his agency against whistleblower claims in a mostly frictionless hearing

Overcoming a pair of whistleblower reports by employees alleging misconduct and neglect, as well as skepticism over the legality of his current appointment, Chad Wolf faced little resistance at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to become Homeland Security secretary.

Wolf, who has been serving as the department head in an acting capacity for almost a year, was given a wide berth by Republicans on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to explain recent controversies his department has battled.

Despite concerns panel Democrats raised about Wolf’s record, the swift, largely frictionless round of questioning suggests the nominee may face a quick confirmation by the full Senate in coming weeks. A committee meeting has been scheduled for Sept. 30 to vote on the nomination. Continue reading.

DHS awarded $6 million in contracts to firm where Acting Secretary Wolf’s wife is executive

A Homeland Security spokesperson said Wolf was unaware of the contracts until contacted by the media. Wolf’s Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The consulting firm where the wife of acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is an executive has been awarded more than $6 million in contracts from the Department of Homeland Security since September 2018, according to records on the federal government website USA Spending.

Wolf became chief of staff at the Transportation Security Administration, a DHS agency, in 2017 and chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in 2018. He took over as acting secretary in November and has been nominated to become secretary. His confirmation hearing before the Senate is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday,

Wolf’s wife, Hope Wolf, is vice president of professional staff operations at Berkeley Research Group, a consulting firm. Although the company has a long history of federal contracts, it did not do work for DHS until after Wolf became the TSA’s chief of staff in 2017. Continue reading.

Trump says he’ll nominate Chad Wolf to be DHS secretary

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President Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he will nominate acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to be the permanent head of the agency.

Why it matters: It’s been more than 500 days since a Senate-confirmed secretary led the Department of Homeland Security — a record for any administration.

  • Wolf himself has served in an acting role since November 2019, taking over from acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan. Kirstjen Nielsen, who resigned in April 2019, was the last Senate-confirmed DHS secretary.
  • Earlier this month, the Government Accountability Office foundthat Wolf and his acting deputy Ken Cuccinelli are ineligible to serve in their positions because the administration did not follow federal law governing how certain leadership vacancies can be filled. Continue reading.

Top DHS officials Wolf and Cuccinelli are not legally eligible to serve in their current roles, GAO finds

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The top two officials at the Department of Homeland Security are serving unlawfully in their roles, the Government Accountability Office said Friday, dealing a rebuke to President Trump’s affinity for filling senior executive roles in his administration with “acting” leaders who lack Senate confirmation.

The GAO, an independent watchdog agency that reports to Congress, said Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy, are serving in an “invalid order of succession” under the Vacancies Reform Act.

Democrats in Congress called on the two men to resign, but DHS officials rejected the findings as “baseless.” Continue reading.

Meet the Official Accused of Helping Trump Politicize Homeland Security

New York Times logoChad F. Wolf joined the Department of Homeland Security in its infancy to help prevent another 9/11. Now he is helping President Trump use it to achieve his political ambitions.

WASHINGTON — It took only 24 hours after President Trump attacked New York City in his State of the Union address for the president’s man at the Department of Homeland Security to act.

Chad F. Wolf had joined the department nearly two decades before as a midlevel staff member to help the sprawling new agency gear up to protect Americans after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But in February, as the new acting secretary of homeland security, Mr. Wolf introduced himself to most in the United States by announcing on Fox News that New Yorkers were suspended from enrolling in expedited air traveler programs because their state had barred federal immigration enforcement agencies from gaining access to Department of Motor Vehicle records.

“It’s particularly interesting coming from New York again, from where 9/11 occurred,” Mr. Wolf said in a later appearance on the network. “We want to make sure we share information and not continue to withhold information.” Continue reading.

DHS official whose office compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists and protesters has been removed from his job

Washington Post logoA senior Department of Homeland Security official whose office compiled “intelligence reports” about journalists and protesters in Portland, Ore., has been removed from his job, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Brian Murphy, the acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, was reassigned to a new position elsewhere in the department, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.

Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf made the decision on Friday, one person said. Continue reading.

Here’s why the White House is sending stormtroopers into Portland

AlterNet logoIn one of the most alarming developments of Trump’s presidency, dozens of federal agents in full camouflage seized protesters and threw them into unmarked cars, taking them to locations unknown without specifying a reason for arrest. It appears that at least some of the agents involved belonged to the US Customs and Border Protection (colloquially known as Border Patrol), an organization that obviously has no business whatsoever conducted counterinsurgency tactics against peaceful American protesters in Portland, Oregon. Neither the mayor of Portland nor the governor of Oregon wanted them there; in fact, they specifically requested that they leave. And now a U.S. Attorney for the State of Oregon is calling for an investigation into the arrests, even as the Acting head of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, is vowing to ramp up these actions both in Portland and reportedly elsewhere.

Needless to say, this is a chilling step toward police state authoritarian rule in the United States, one that was presaged by Attorney General Barr’s approval of an pre-curfew assault on protesters instigated in Lafayette Square to clear the way for a presidential campaign photo op. Few took it seriously when leftist organizers were warning that the border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were being culturally and structurally converted into stormtroopers for the Trump regime, equally ready to be deployed against politically inconvenient American citizens as against undocumented immigrants seeking a better life. Those warnings should be heeded now. Continue reading.

Oregon Governor: Trump Seeking To Provoke Violence With Portland Arrests

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is up in arms after camouflaged federal agents were discovered to be patrolling the streets of Portland, inciting violence and abducting protesters in what she described as a naked attempt by the Trump administration to provoke violence for political gain.

“Trump is looking for a confrontation in Oregon in the hopes of winning political points in Ohio or Iowa,” Brown, a Democrat, tweeted Thursday night. She accused Donald Trump and his administration of seeking to portray racial justice protests as dangerous uprisings to help get his base out to the polls.

Brown added that acting-Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf is “on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes,” and in the process is “putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm’s way.” Continue reading.