Every KC senator opposed Biden’s pick to run Department of Homeland Security
All four senators from the Kansas City region opposed the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 57 to 43. It was above the required simple majority, but by far the closest and most contentious vote for any of Biden’s nominees.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is the only senator to vote against every one of Biden’s cabinet nominees as of Tuesday— Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was confirmed along with Mayorkas Tuesday.
Hawley’s opposition to Biden’s cabinet picks comes after he spearheaded the failed effort to challenge Biden’s electoral victory in the Senate.
The senator had been particularly critical of Mayorkas’ selection to run DHS, the agency which oversees immigration enforcement and counterterrorism.
Hawley blocked quick consideration of Mayorkas’ nomination last month, a move he tied to Biden’s immigration policies.
“Mr. Mayorkas has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures,” Hawley said at the time.
Mayorkas served as deputy DHS secretary during former President Barack Obama’s administration. Born in Cuba, he is the first Latino and the first immigrant to lead the agency.
Hawley has faced harsh criticism from progressive groups for opposing Biden’s pick for the agency that oversees counterterrorism in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Hawley was the first senator to announce his opposition to the certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, a move that critics say contributed to the combustible atmosphere the led to the deadly riot.
“Josh Hawley undermined the rule of law by helping incite a riot at the U.S. Capitol. Now, Hawley is putting our national security at risk again, blocking confirmation of President Biden’s Homeland Security nominee,” states an ad that launched this week from Accountable.US, a national progressive advocacy organization.
Ethical issues also complicated Mayorkas’ confirmation.
The majority of the GOP caucus opposed Mayorkas with many Republicans criticizing his tenure as director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during Obama’s presidency.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who has voted for all of Biden’s nominees, pointed to a 2015 DHS inspector general report that raised concerns about his personal intervention in multiple visas cases.
Mayorkas’ involvement in the cases came after he had contact with influential Democrats, including former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who all had visa applications they were seeking to move forward.
“In each of these three instances, but for Mr. Mayorkas’ intervention, the matter would have been decided differently,” the inspector general’s report states.
Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall cited this report in his statement explaining his vote against Mayorkas, saying in a statement that Mayorkas’ “previous time in government is riddled with a number of ethically questionable moments.”
Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran both opposed Mayorkas’ confirmation.
Neither of the senators, both up for re-election in 2022, immediately offered an explanation Tuesday for their vote.
Both have made gestures toward bipartisanship since Biden’s inauguration. Moran was among a group of 10 GOP senators to meet with Biden at the White House Monday evening regarding competing proposals for COVID-19 relief.
Blunt and Moran supported Biden’s other nominees, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, earlier in the day.
Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor who won last year’s Iowa caucuses, was approved by a bipartisan vote of 86 to 13. He is first openly gay man confirmed to a cabinet post.
Both Hawley and Marshall opposed his confirmation.
“Pete Buttigieg lacks the experience necessary to oversee the U.S. Department of Transportation. Fixing municipal potholes and managing bus routes in no way equates to what he will oversee at DOT,” Marshall said in a statement minutes after the vote.
Kansas Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, the vice chair of the House Transportation Committee, offered an alternative view of Buttigieg’s mayoral experience.
“As a former mayor from the Midwest, Pete Buttigieg brings an important perspective that can help deliver economic opportunity to every person in this country,” said Davids, who worked in the Department of Transportation as a 2016 White House fellow.
Marshall has objected to multiple cabinet secretaries, but he supported Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. He’s also indicated support for Tom Vilsack, Biden’s nominee to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Every KC senator opposed Biden’s pick to run Department of Homeland Security."
