Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Former general chosen for Homeland Security
Retired Marine Gen. Kelly has Iraq combat experience.
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is poised to pick retired Gen. John Kelly for secretary of Homeland Security, putting an outspoken Marine commander in charge of defending America from terrorist attacks and of delivering Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration.
Kelly, who spent more than four decades in uniform, is the third recently retired general to join Trump’s Cabinet, a break with tradition that gives a decidedly military cast to the president-elect’s team of top advisers on national security and defense.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly would be responsible for carrying out some of Trump’s most controversial campaign pledges, including building a wall along the border with Mexico, boosting deportations of immigrants in the country illegally and vetting visitors from Muslim-majority nations.
Kelly, 66, led troops in multiple tours of intense fighting in Iraq and then led U.S. Southern Command, the Pentagon’s regional command for operations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America.
He retired in January as a four-star general, the first since the Korean War to be promoted to that rank while in active combat.
He also had a more painful distinction as the highest ranking U.S. military officer to lose a son or daughter in combat in years. His son, Marine Lt. Robert M. Kelly, was killed on a combat patrol in Afghanistan in 2010.
Trump, who rolled out several other appointments Wednesday, did not publicly name Kelly.
But Kelly confirmed media reports of his selection in an interview with Fox News, saying he had “been asked and would consider it an honor.”
By choosing the retired general, Trump signaled a more militarized approach to border security after railing for months on the campaign trail about growing risks on America’s borders.
As the head of Southern Command, Kelly ordered military operations in the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to try to stop drug smugglers. The role made him an attractive candidate to Trump’s transition team.
Kelly also may have benefited from his public clashes with the Obama administration over its unsuccessful attempts to close the prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which came under Southern Command.
He rejected critiques from human rights groups about alleged mistreatment of detainees, including efforts to force feed prisoners on hunger strikes. Trump has vowed to keep the prison open.
Kelly also objected publicly to the Pentagon’s order last year to open Navy SEAL jobs and other combat roles to women, telling reporters it would create pressure to lower standards for women in elite units.
Kelly also has been skeptical of laws legalizing marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington.
U.S. officials have pressured governments in Central America to crack down on illicit drug production and they “look at us in disbelief,” Kelly told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2014.
“They’re in disbelief when they hear us talking about things like legalization, particularly when we still encourage them to stay shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the drug fight in their part of the world. ‘Hypocrite’ sometimes works its way into the conversation,” Kelly said.
If confirmed, Kelly will run a department created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that has struggled with management and morale problems ever since.
It includes 22 agencies and nearly 250,000 federal employees who protect the president, tell airline passengers to remove their shoes, deliver aid after natural disasters, patrol on horseback along the border and do numerous other jobs.
One of Kelly’s first tasks may be to expand existing barriers on the border with Mexico by diverting money from other border security projects.
Kelly joins another retired four-star Marine general, James Mattis, Trump’s pick for secretary of Defense, and retired Army three-star general, Michael Flynn, Trump’s choice for national security adviser, in Trump’s inner circle.
Another retired four-star Army general, David Petraeus, is under consideration for secretary of state.
Trump has never served in the military or government and his reliance on so many former generals for powerful Cabinet posts has sparked concerns about the potential of undue military influence in his administration.