White House withdraws Richard Schroyer's ICE nomination

Nomination withdrawn

The White House withdrew President Donald Trump’s nomination of Richard Schroyer to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the nomination stalled in the Senate.

Trump nominated Schroyer in June to run ICE as an assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. At the time, Schroyer was serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul held up the nomination while seeking details about investigations into shootings involving federal agents in Minnesota. Schroyer’s nomination did not advance beyond the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Paul’s office said the senator had not expressed opposition to Schroyer.

The withdrawal removes Schroyer’s nomination from Senate consideration. He had not received a vote before the full Senate.

ICE leadership

David Venturella is serving as the senior official performing the duties of ICE director. He took that role after Todd Lyons announced in April that he was leaving the agency’s top position.

ICE has operated without a Senate-confirmed director since 2017. Schroyer’s nomination was an effort to fill that role through the Senate confirmation process, but it ended before reaching the full chamber.

The White House’s action leaves Venturella performing the director’s duties rather than serving as a Senate-confirmed director. Any future nominee for the position would need to go through a new Senate consideration process.