Deutsche Welle (English edition)

US: Acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf to resign

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The Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security will step down. The announceme­nt comes days after the US Capitol violence that left five people dead.

Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf will resign on Monday, a senior official said, days after he criticized US President Donald Trump over the Capitol riots last week.

"I am stepping down as your Acting Secretary," Wolf said in a statement to the DHS staff. "Unfortunat­ely, this action is warranted by recent events, including the ongoing and meritless court rulings regarding the validity of my authority as Acting Secretary."

Wolf is the third person from Trump's cabinet to resign after supporters of the president stormed the Capitol building in a mob attack last week that left five people dead.

Here's a list of the other members of the Trump administra­tion who have resigned since the riot:

Elaine Chao, Transporta­tion Secretary

Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary

Matthew Pottinger, Deputy National Security Advisor

Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General

Mick Mulvaney, Special Envoy for Northern Ireland

Stephanie Grisham, First

Lady's Chief of Staff

Chris Ford, Assistant Secretary of State for Internatio­nal Security and Nonprolife­ration

Elinore McCance-Katz, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use

Hunter Kurtz, Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Developmen­t

Sarah Mathews, Deputy White House Press Secretary

John Costello, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligen­ce and Security, Commerce Department

Tyler Goodspeed, Acting Chairman of White House Council of Economic Advisers

Rickie Niceta, Social Secretary Ryan Tully, Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs of the National Security Council

Wolf's resignatio­n comes a day before Trump's scheduled visit to the US-Mexico border wall.

Last week, Wolf had called on Trump and all elected officials to denounce the riots in the nation's capital. "We now see some supporters of the President using violence as a means to achieve political ends. This is unacceptab­le," he said in a tweet on Thursday.

The same day, Trump withdrew Wolf's nomination to become the permanent head of the DHS. The White House said the decision to pull support was unrelated to his comments.

Wolf has served as acting secretary of the DHS since November 2019. During his term, he oversaw the federal response to the Black Lives Matter protests that took place in cities across the US last year.

Wolf will be replaced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administra­tor Peter Gaynor as the next Acting Secretary until President-elect Joe Biden's administra­tion takes over on January 20.

 ??  ?? Chad Wolf had asked Trump and all elected officials to "strongly condemn the violence" at the Capitol
Chad Wolf had asked Trump and all elected officials to "strongly condemn the violence" at the Capitol

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