President Donald Trump has withdrawn his choice to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the nomination became trapped in a dispute between the administration and a Republican senator demanding answers about fatal encounters involving federal immigration officers.
The White House formally pulled Richard “Lance” Schroyer’s nomination Thursday, listing the former Oklahoma state trooper among five nominees withdrawn from Senate consideration. The administration did not explain the move or identify a replacement, according to the official White House announcement.
Schroyer had been selected in June to serve as assistant secretary of homeland security, the official title of ICE’s Senate-confirmed director. But his nomination never received a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
That left one of the central positions in Trump’s immigration enforcement operation stalled on Capitol Hill — and ultimately prompted the White House to abandon the confirmation effort.
Rand Paul refused to move forward
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., chairman of the committee handling the nomination, declined to advance Schroyer while pressing the Department of Homeland Security for more information about investigations into fatal shootings involving federal immigration officers in Minnesota, according to CBS News.
Paul’s stand was not centered on allegations against Schroyer, who was not leading ICE when the shootings occurred. Instead, the senator used his control of the committee calendar to demand additional transparency from DHS about the incidents and the department’s use-of-force reviews.
The dispute created an unusual Republican roadblock for a nominee Trump had praised in emphatic terms.
When announcing the selection, Trump called Schroyer a “PATRIOT with real operational experience” and a “proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.” The president said Schroyer would play a “vital role” in carrying out the administration’s immigration agenda.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also urged the Senate to confirm him, saying Schroyer had run large-scale operations and worked with state and federal partners to remove illegal immigrants from Oklahoma.
As recently as August, DHS publicly said it stood “firmly behind” the nominee. But that support never produced a committee hearing.
Pick faced resistance beyond Capitol Hill
Schroyer brought nearly three decades of law enforcement experience to the nomination. A Marine Corps veteran, he served with the Tulsa Police Department and Oklahoma Highway Patrol before retiring as a major.
His work included participation in the federal 287(g) program, which allows trained state and local officers to perform certain immigration enforcement duties under ICE supervision.
Still, critics questioned whether his state-level résumé provided enough experience to oversee a large federal agency undergoing a major expansion.
Axios reported in August that White House border czar Tom Homan opposed the selection, while former Trump adviser Steve Bannon publicly argued that ICE was too complex for someone without extensive experience inside the agency. Other Republican senators defended Schroyer and said a capable nominee could overcome the learning curve.
Schroyer’s close relationship with Mullin also drew attention. He previously worked on Mullin’s security detail and later became a senior adviser to him at DHS. Mullin described Schroyer as a friend and said he conducted a broad search before deciding the veteran Oklahoma officer was the right choice.
The administration maintained that Schroyer was Trump’s nominee and rejected suggestions that reports of internal friction amounted to a personnel announcement. Thursday’s withdrawal officially ended that effort less than three months after the president unveiled the pick.
Trump now faces another ICE leadership decision
David Venturella remains the senior official performing the duties of ICE director after former acting chief Todd Lyons announced his departure earlier this year.
ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since Sarah Saldaña left office in January 2017. The agency has instead relied on a succession of acting leaders through the first Trump administration, the Biden administration and Trump’s current term.
That vacancy has not stopped ICE from carrying out the president’s expanded enforcement campaign. But Schroyer’s withdrawal means Trump must now decide whether to send the Senate a new nominee or continue relying on acting leadership at an agency central to his domestic agenda.
