WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans asked pointed questions about immigration Tuesday to Alejandro Mayorkas, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, but didn t hint at outright opposition to his nomination during a confirmation hearing Tuesday..
The harshest questions focused on an inspector general’s report found that an appearance of favoritism in how Mayorkas settled disputes in a visa program during a previous stint with the department. Members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee also posed contentious questions about how to combat illegal immigration, always a divisive subject between Republicans and Democrats.
Mayorkas said in response to the visa questions that he fixed a broken program during his previous term as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He openly contrasted Biden’s positions seeking to overhaul immigration law with creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrant
A sprawling series of barbed-wire barricades surround the U.S. Capitol, and so many members of the National Guard are camped out inside they’re sleeping on floors.
While bracing for the possibility of more violence in Washington and beyond, Democrats are urging swift confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s national security team.
There’s one obvious problem, however: Before the storming of the Capitol that left five dead and a nation aghast and on edge, Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, was facing one of the toughest confirmation fights of any Biden nominee. And concerns about him among Republicans have not dissipated along with the tear gas.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid heaped praise on Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in a recent podcast, raising questions about the former Senate Democratic leader's suggestion during the 2012 presidential campaign that the latter didn't pay his taxes.