The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary to President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security, despite opposition from several Republicans.
The final vote was 56-43, with Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Not voting. Mayorkas, former head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and deputy secretary of Homeland Security, will be the first immigrant to take the top spot in DHS.
Mayorkas’s confirmation was less bipartisan than another member of Biden’s cabinet confirmed on Tuesday: Pete Buttigieg became secretary of transport by 83 votes to 13.
Here are the six Republican Party senators who broke with the majority in their caucus to confirm the Mayorkas:
Sen. Shelley Capito, RW.Va.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah
Other Republicans objected to the Mayorkas, some citing a 2015 report by the Inspector General that concluded that Mayorkas intervened to help foreign investors in the EB-5 visa program that were linked to Democrats.
SENATE CONFIRMS MAYORKAS AS SECRETARY OF DHS
In one case, Mayorkas “pressured the team” to expedite the review of a Las Vegas hotel and casino investment at the request of then-Senate majority leader Harry Reid, according to the 2015 inspector general’s report.
But others have noted urgent security needs when voting for a quick confirmation – the department has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was ousted in spring 2019.
During the appointment of the Committee, Portman said he found some “very worrying integrity issues” in the inspector general’s report, but “discovered that he was someone who listened to both sides” when he worked with him during the Obama years.
“I found out that he was, compared to other Obama administration officials, in fact, you know, more to the medium,” he said.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: WHAT TO KNOW
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell disagreed on Tuesday with this characterization. He called Mayorka an “ethically committed party lawyer” who abused his power during the Obama administration and asked colleagues to vote against him.
“As a senior Obama administration official, Mr. Mayorkas did his best to transform the US Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS] in an unethical favor factory for Democratic royalty, “said McConnell, R-Ky.,
But Mayorkas’ chances of being confirmed were helped by the support of former DHS officials, including those who served in the Trump administration.
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“I think he’s qualified,” former DHS acting secretary Chad Wolf told ABC News. “Are his views and policies the ones I would have chosen? Probably not. But that does not mean that he is not qualified, as I am sure he would say, my views and policies are also not to his liking.”