Taking about two minutes from open to close, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning along partisan lines approved the nomination of Chad Wolf to become the Trump administration’s Homeland Security Secretary, advancing the nomination to the Senate.
Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) opened the meeting expressing his support for Wolf, who is currently the Acting Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, saying he’s “done a pretty good job based on all the things that he has to deal with as a secretary, and I’ve said this repeatedly, I don’t envy any secretary of the Department of Homeland Security their position at all. It’s a tough, tough job and I just appreciate his past service and his willingness to serve again.”
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the ranking member on the committee, didn’t bother with any opening remarks and suggested to move directly to the vote.
The six to three vote in favor of the nomination included Johnson and Republican Senators Rob Portman (Ohio), James Lankford (Okla.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), and Josh Hawley (Mo.). Peters and two other Democrats present—Tom Carper (Del.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.) opposed the nomination.
Wolf became the acting head of DHS last November, the fifth person to lead the department during the Trump administration.