U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Sunday.
The president said Kevin McAleenan, the current U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, would become the acting DHS secretary. His tweet read:
"Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service," Mr. Trump tweeted Sunday. "...I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, the current U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, will become Acting Secretary for @DHSgov. I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job!"
It's unclear whether Nielsen is deciding to leave voluntarily, or whether she has been pressured to resign. Nielsen's departure is a part of a massive DHS overhaul engineered and directed by top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, according to a senior U.S. official.
Editorial credit: Carlos Tischler / Shutterstock.com