The DHS reportedly might have a new acting secretary lined up

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

last updated 3 November 2019

The Department of Homeland Security has been in a constant state of flux ever since President Trump took over the White House in 2017, and now it's supposedly about to get its fifth chief.

Chad Wolf, the acting undersecretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, is expected to serve as the acting head of the agency once outgoing acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan leaves his post in November, President Trump told reporters Friday evening, though it is unclear how formal the announcement was. Wolf is a former lobbyist who previously served as the chief of staff to former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

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The Washington Post described Wolf as a "mild-mannered, managerial figure," who emerged as the leading candidate for the job once Trump ran low on other options, most notably including immigration hardliner and acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli. The New York Times, though, reports that White House adviser Stephen Miller views Wolf as someone who can "reliably put into effect" the border policies he designed on Trump's behalf. Read more at The New York Times and The Washington Post.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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