Acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Matthew Albence isn’t a fan of the political appointees the White House has in mind for several vacancies in the department, Politico reports.
Officials told Politico that Albence, a law enforcement officer and ICE’s acting director, is resisting a push to install Trump allies in several key positions like chief of staff and Office of Policy director.
The White House whittled down a short list of candidates for the open jobs and moved forward two names to ICE for review.
The White House Presidential Personnel Office head John McEntee has been working to place Trump allies in open government jobs.
Those in the director’s corner say the White House’s selections are not qualified for the roles available. Some of the names moved for the positions were involved in Trump’s 2016 election.
“Albence was not happy with PPO,” a senior administration official told Politico, adding that “he’s really been pushing back a lot.” Albence involved President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller on the matter, according to that official.
Another senior administration official said the effort to fill the positions has slowed and it is unclear if the suggested candidates will even get jobs at ICE. Four of eight political appointments in the department have been filled, according to Politico.
This isn’t the first time Albence has butted heads with top officials. He has clashed with the Trump administration over the treatment of immigrants during the coronavirus outbreak.
“He wants to protect his bureaucratic buddies in ICE, and he doesn’t want politicals telling him to do difficult things,” said one senior administration official of Albence.
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