Prominent GOP donor urges Republican senators to confirm Biden's DHS pick

President-elect Joe Biden's transition team doesn't seem too worried about homeland security nominee Alejandro Mayorkas' chances of getting confirmed by the Senate, noting that the choice has received an "overwhelmingly positive reaction," but there does appear to be some skepticism among Republican lawmakers, The Associated Press reports.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), for instance, told AP that Mayorkas' "brand of leadership isn't good for agency culture or the security of our nation." He was specifically referring to the findings of a 2015 report from the Office of Inspector General which concluded Mayorkas "created an appearance of favoritism and special access at Citizenship and Immigration Services when he was director from 2009 to 2013," per AP.

Still, even if there are holdouts, Biden will likely only need a handful of Republican senators to back Mayorkas, and prominent GOP donor John Rowe told AP he plans to push the party to confirm. "This is an easy vote," Rowe, the former CEO of Exelon Corporation, said. "Some of the other immigration votes are not that easy for Republicans who have to go home to primaries. No one is going to lose their seat because they vote to confirm Mayorkas." Read more at The Associated Press.

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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.