Republicans from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved unlawfully appointed acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Chad Wolf’s nomination to officially lead the agency (after nearly a year on the job) on Wednesday, by a strict party line giving him the thumbs up for a full Senate vote, Roll Call reports.
Sure, Unlawful Chad again lied under oath about his role in the family separation policy, but Republicans said that’s fine. Sure, Unlawful Chad’s wife’s consulting firm reportedly got millions in DHS contracts after he joined the agency, but Republicans said that’s fine. Sure, Unlawful Chad is defying the Supreme Court on DACA, but Republicans said that’s fine. In fact, they think he’s doing great: Unlawful Chad, chair Ron Johnson commented, “has done a pretty good job based on all the things he has to deal with as secretary.”
The lying in question came during Unlawful Chad’s brief Senate committee hearing last week, when U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada pressed him on the beginnings of the Trump administration policy that would eventually lead to the state-sanctioned kidnapping of thousands of babies and children at the southern border.
“You said you were going to separate—this is what you said in your memo—and I’m quoting, you ‘considered separating family units and treating the children as unaccompanied,’” Rosen said. But quickly becoming defensive, Unlawful Chad shot back that “it was not my memo,” and pointed to his former boss, then-Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen. “That was not my portfolio, it was not my issue set at that time,” he claimed.
But internal documents have already easily debunked Unlawful Chad’s claim: He was an architect of family separation. He’s a liar—and a liar under oath at that. But why should anyone expect Senate Republicans to hold that against him when they won’t hold it against their president, either? Senate Republicans also voted to advance Unlawful Chad’s nomination as a federal judge blocked the administration’s policy cruelly implementing an asylum fee because he’s likely not serving legally.
So suddenly rushing to confirm Unlawful Chad after nearly a year on the job isn’t at all to secure the “homeland,” it’s to save his ass, and the president’s. “Today’s vote to advance Wolf’s nomination is further proof that the Trump administration is trying to retroactively make Chad Wolf’s appointment as head of DHS valid,” Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, state and local policy manager of United We Dream, said in a statement received by Daily Kos.
It’s unclear when Unlawful Chad’s nomination may get a full Senate vote, but citing his defiance of the Supreme Court, targeting of demonstrators protesting police violence, and a recent horror show of immigration detention abuses, Macedo do Nascimento urged senators to oppose the nomination when it does happen.
“In July, Wolf issued a memo ignoring the Supreme Court ruling on DACA, instead moving to destroy DACA. Instead of acknowledging the illegitimacy of his memo, Republican senators are trying to promote Wolf to lead DHS in an official capacity,” she continued. “Today’s committee vote to advance Wolf’s nomination was a blatant support of the vile attacks he’s helped carry out and will continue to carry out if confirmed to his position permanently. Every Senator with a conscience and who says they support immigrants should vote ‘NO’ on Chad Wolf.”
