Washington, United States.
Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chad Wolf announced his resignation, effective Monday at midnight, amid growing concerns about acts of violence during the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
“I regret having to take this step as I intended to serve until the end of this administration,” Wolf said in an internal memorandum to which AFP had access.
“Sadly, this action is justified by recent events, including ongoing and meritorious court rulings on the validity of my authority as acting secretary,” he added.
Wolf, whose portfolio is responsible for security at the Jan. 20 events, is the last cabinet member to resign after Trump supporters seized the Capitol on Wednesday, following education secretaries Betsy DeVos, and transportation, Elaine Chao.
Notifying DHS officials of his resignation, the 45-year-old Republican, very loyal to Trump, made no explicit mention of Wednesday’s attack on Congressional headquarters, which left five dead.
But on Thursday he had made a statement in which he considered what had happened “tragic and disgusting” and urged the president to “strongly condemn” the violence.
Since November 2019, Wolf has led the DHS on an interim basis, established after the September 11, 2001 attacks to better coordinate the country’s security and migration policies, and has been involved in lawsuits over immigration measures by the Trump administration.
Trump had officially nominated him for the position in late August 2020, but the Senate never voted to confirm it. Therefore, the courts recently ruled that it is not legitimate and have invalidated their decisions.
When the new Congress was installed on Jan. 3, Trump resubmitted Wolf’s candidacy for the Senate, which must be confirmed by cabinet members, but withdrew it within hours of Wolf’s criticism of the Capitol robbery.
Pete Gaynor, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), would take over as secretary, Wolf said in his letter.
Wolf’s resignation comes a day before Trump travels to the US-Mexico border near Alamo, Texas, to inspect the erected border wall.
Normally, Wolf accompanied the president on that trip.
On Jan. 5, Wolf announced in a statement the completion of a 450-mile (724-kilometer) wall under Trump.
“President Trump took office with a promise to build the wall and secure our southern border, a promise he has kept,” he said.