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(WASHINGTON) – President Donald Trump is pondering an in-depth reform of the administration as he seeks to prepare his White House for a divided government, but it's hard to know who's in. go and stay.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen is said to have been dismissed this week, according to two people familiar with the issue, but she is now likely to remain in office longer, as no obvious successor is in office. square.
Trump angered Nielsen and White House chief of staff John Kelly partly because he was frustrated that his administration was not doing more to fix what he called a crisis at the US-Mexico border, according to the two people. But the scope of the changes envisioned is much broader, as Trump prepares for a wave of Democrat demands for control and for more effort in his re-election campaign.
According to people familiar with the situation, Trump also plans to replace Kelly with Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers. Kelly, a retired navy general, was credited with keeping his order in a chaotic west wing, but he fell out of favor with the president and his daughter in the Ivanka presidential election. Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Ayers, an experienced campaigner, would re-establish a political role in this role, but he faces stiff opposition from some corners of the West Wing, with some associates putting pressure on Trump directly against the movement.
Other changes are underway, while the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, and Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, are being discussed for their replacement. On Tuesday, the office of the first lady, Melania Trump, publicly called to dismiss Mira Ricardel, Trump's Deputy National Security Advisor.
Despite all the talk about churn, Trump often expresses frustration with his helpers and then takes no action. We've been talking about Kelly's release for months and he stays put.
Nielsen had hoped to finish his job and leave in December, but it seemed unlikely that it would last that long, said two people aware of the debate. They spoke to the AP under cover of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak in public.
The fight against illegal immigration is Trump's central question – a question to which he returns to rally his most loyal supporters.
But anyone who takes over Homeland Security may face the same problems Nielsen faces. The administration has already tried to curb the border, but these efforts have been largely thwarted or diluted because of legal problems.
Trump also told his allies that he had never fully trusted Nielsen, whom he associated with President George W. Bush, a longtime foe. And he told his relatives that he sometimes felt that his loyalty was more to his longtime mentor – Kelly – than his president.
Zinke, who faces several investigations into ethics, said in an interview with AP that he had spoken in recent days to Trump, Pence and Kelly about investigating his leaders. and that they remained favorable. He denied any wrongdoing.
Ross raised rumors about the numbers at a Yahoo Finance summit on Tuesday, saying he was stationed to give back to the country and support Trump.
"I worked very hard to get President Trump elected," he said. "Now I would like to work so hard to make him successful and re-elected."
The questions about Nielsen's job security are not new. Earlier this year, she rebuffed a New York Times report that she had written a resignation letter after Trump had berated her at a cabinet meeting without submitting her.
Nielsen led the wave after September. 11 federal agency since December. She was Kelly's chief of staff when he was Trump's first Secretary of Homeland Security. A DHS spokesperson did not want to say whether she was leaving or not.
"The Secretary is honored to lead the men and women of DHS and is committed to implementing the President's Security Agenda to protect Americans from any threat and will continue to do so," said the spokesman. Tyler Houlton.
Nielsen argued for a strong defense against cybersecurity and has often stated that she thought the next major terrorist attack would occur online, not by plane or by bomb. Its mission was to help states to hold elections following the interference of the Russians in the 2016 elections.
She pushed Trump's immigration policies, including the funding of her border wall, and defended the administration's practice of separating families from migrants, telling a Senate committee that the withdrawal Children of the parents facing criminal charges occur "in the United States every day". by stopping the separations.
Just last week, the administration announced that migrants would be denied asylum at the US-Mexico border if they crossed illegally, creating a by-law that bypassed immigration laws stating that anyone could to claim asylum, no matter how she arrives in the country. The decision would affect about 70,000 people each year and was immediately challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Nielsen has also decided to abandon the longstanding regulations that dictate the length of detention of children in detention. She asked the US Army to sleep with about 12,000 people in order to detain all families crossing the border. At present, there is room for about 3,000 families and it is at full capacity.
On several occasions, she had lively discussions with Trump 's and White House' s assistants on immigration policy, while she was trying to explain the complicated legal difficulties of the law of immigration. and advocated for a more diplomatic approach.
We do not know who would replace her. The position requires confirmation from the Senate and there is no Assistant Secretary. Undersecretary for Management Claire Grady would be the acting head if Nielsen left.
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Authors Darlene Superville in Washington and Jonathan Lemire in New York contributed to this report.
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