White House Yanks Its Pick to Lead ICE

The White House just yanked its pick to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and it's not saying why. On Thursday, the administration quietly withdrew Lance Schroyer's nomination, less than three months after President Trump tapped the former Oklahoma Highway Patrol major and Marine to lead the agency central to his expanded deportation push, the Washington Post reports.

Schroyer, a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a fellow Oklahoman, had built his reputation helping train more than 700 Oklahoma troopers to enforce immigration laws and work with ICE. But his path to Senate confirmation never really got moving: Sen. Rand Paul, who leads the committee overseeing the nomination, hadn't even scheduled a hearing. Paul clashed with Mullin during the Homeland Security chief's confirmation hearing in March. The senator accused Mullin of having "anger issues," citing remarks in which Mullin called Paul a "freaking snake" and said he understood why a neighbor assaulted the senator in 2017.

Politico reports that Schroyer's nomination stalled after Paul demanded more information from Homeland Security about the killings of two US citizens by ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. The withdrawal of the nomination comes as ICE arrests hit new highs, though some Trump supporters say Mullin still isn't being tough enough, the Post reports. David Venturella is currently the acting leader of ICE, which hasn't had a Senate-confirmed director since the end of Barack Obama's administration.