Kirstjen Nielsen Resigned From US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan will become Acting Secretary
6th United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen submitted her resignation to President Donald Trump on 7 April 2019. Kirstjen announced her resignation via a tweet on 7 April 2019. She will serve as Secretary till 10 April and the US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, Kevin McAleenan will become Acting Secretary.
She wrote on Twitter, “This afternoon I submitted my resignation to @POTUS and thanked him for the opportunity to serve in his administration.”
In another tweet, she wrote, “To the brave and dedicated men and women of @DHSgov, I submitted my resignation to the President this evening. I am eternally grateful and proud of what you do each and every day to protect our homeland-each of you are why I came back to serve my country.”
She informed via her another tweet that she would stay as Secretary through 10 April.
She wrote, “I have agreed to stay on as Secretary through Wednesday, April 10th to assist with an orderly transition and ensure that key DHS missions are not impacted.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter, “Secretary of Homeland Security Kirsten Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service…”.
In another tweet, he announced, “I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, the current US Customs, and Border Protection Commissioner, will become Acting Secretary for @DHSgov. I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job!.”
Earlier in May 2018, The New York Times reported that the 46-years old former Principal Deputy White House Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump considered resigning after President Trump berated her during a cabinet meeting for the purported failure to secure US borders. News Journal reported that the tension between the secretary and the president started after she and other DHS officials resisted the President’s call to separate undocumented immigrant parents from their children.
She faced major criticism following the tear-gassing incident at San Ysidro on 25 November 2018. US Border Patrol tear gassed groups of Central American migrants forcibly tried to cross the border into the US. The photograph of a woman and two small children being tear gassed went viral. The Foreign Ministry of Mexico protested the incident and demanded a full investigation.
She previously served as Special Assistant to then-President George W. Bush and as senior Director for Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) a the White House Homeland security Council. She left the Bush administration in 2008. She later served as John F. Kelly’s chief of staff at the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after he assumed that position on 20 January 2017. Kelly became White House Chief of Staff on 31 July 2017 and Neilsen moved to the White House and became the Principal Deputy Chief of Staff under Kelly.