Though the legislative machinations may be tricky, the bottom line is that the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is headed to likely Senate approval early next week.
Mayorkas’ first hearing with the Senate Homeland Security Committee took place Jan. 19, where he laid out his vision for the agency and promised to make cybersecurity a priority. The nomination made it out of committee on Jan. 26, with Republican Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, voting in the affirmative. Those two were the only Republican affirmatives in the 7-4 committee vote.
While Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., had sought to delay action on the Mayorkas nomination, the Senate today approved by a 55-42 vote a cloture motion that allows for full Senate consideration of the nomination. Incoming Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, R-Ill., rejected Cornyn’s calls for a Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination, calling the hold-up “totally political”, according to reports.
With the cloture vote complete, Mayorkas’ full Senate confirmation hearing is set for Monday, Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m., according to the Senate Press Gallery.
