Posted on 12/07/2016 9:59:41 AM PST by Hojczyk
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly to run the Department of Homeland Security, turning to a blunt-spoken border security hawk who clashed with the Obama administration over women in combat and plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to people familiar with the decision.
Kelly, who retired in February as chief of U.S. Southern Command, would inherit a massive and often troubled department responsible for overseeing perhaps the most controversial part of Trump’s agenda: his proposed crackdown on illegal immigration. DHS is the third-largest Cabinet department, with more than 240,000 employees who do everything from fight terrorism to protect the president and enforce immigration laws.
Kelly, 66, is a widely respected military officer who served for more than 40 years, and he is not expected to face difficulty winning Senate confirmation. Trump’s team was drawn to him because of his Southwest border expertise, people familiar with the transition said. Like the president-elect, Kelly has sounded the alarm about drugs, terrorism and other cross-border threats he sees as emanating from Mexico and Central and South America.
Yet Kelly’s nomination could raise questions about what critics see as Trump’s tendency to surround himself with too many military figures. Trump has also selected retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis for defense secretary and retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser, while retired Army Gen. David H. Petraeus is under consideration for secretary of state.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I think ANYONE other than one of Obama’s racist white-hater goons would be a step up. I’ve seen higher ups in that organization early on and they were all incompetents.
Reinvigorate the FBI and the CIA in coordination with each other for sharper, quicker, more agile, and less bureaucratically encumbered intelligence.
Excellent choice. Former commander of USSOUTHCOM. A straight talker on immigration issues.
DHS needs to be shut down. Completely.
Bush was such an idiot. I remember screaming at the radio when his whole DHS response was announced.
The guy from Kansas looked good to me, but the General is clearly a good choice. Hope he has some construction experience!
Trump seems to favor Marines....
Semper Fi !
We don’t need DHS, TSA, CIA, NSA. Replace them with a single agency OSS.
And get out of the private citizen snooping and harassment business.
Cant make blanket statements about this subject. Some of these agencies have legitimate missions. Some have redundant and arguably unconstitutional/misguided missions. The whole system needs to be carefully scrutinized and trimmed back to legitimate constitutional function. NSA, FBI, and CIA's core missions, as examples, are complimentary and not supposed to be overlapping or redundant. To my understanding DHS was borne out of the need to coordinate sharing of data across agencies like these to allow them to be better at what they are supposed to be doing, protecting the people of our nation. Mission creep, like federalizing all of TSA/airport security, is an example of what I do not think is legitimate. There are certainly more cost efficient and effective means to prevent bad actors from getting on planes than the circus that airport security became after 911.
There is not a better man Alive than John Kelly! He will be a tremendous addition to the Trump Administration.
I’ve know General Kelly for years and you can bet this man will ALWAYS to the right thing for our Country. I’m overjoyed with his selection!
Terry L Walker
CWO5
Marine Gunner
USMC Retired
Any pick would be good as long as it wasn’t another muzzie.
Ditto. This is the proper function of the Militia (Article I, Section 8, Para 15)
Well Gunner, we probably crossed paths along the way. I don’t know Gen Kelly, but your word is good enough for me. Looks like the Marine Corps is going to be running the country...
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