Trump Taps Retired Gen. John Kelly To Lead Homeland Security

Trump is expected to name former Marine General John Kelly, 66, as head of the Department of Homeland Security, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.In confirmed by the Senate, Kelly will be in charge of the agency tasked with securing borders against illegal immigration, protecting the president, responding to natural disasters, coordinating intelligence and countering terror threats.

Well, for a man who insisted repeatedly during his campaign that he “knew more than the generals”, President-elect Donald Trump seems intent on filling his Cabinet with as many as possible.

A massive department created in the wake of 9/11, Homeland Security duties range from counter-terrorism to enforcing immigration laws. He said “We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud”.

Some are rightly concerned about stacking the administration with so many generals. Along with Mattis, Kelly spent years in the Marines and led troops in Iraq. You can hear it in his accent. Two of his sons also have served, and one, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, died in 2010 while fighting in Afghanistan. As the head of Southern Command, Kelly ordered military operations in the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to try to stop drug smugglers from moving narcotics into the country.

In the same testimony, Kelly warned against complacency toward the spread of human smugglers and drug traffickers in south and central America.

In this role, Kelly acknowledged the widespread issue of drug trafficking and said he believes in continuing a partnership with Colombia to end drug trafficking, a debate he will likely have to revisit during confirmation hearings for the Department of Homeland Security job. “They never even shifted their weight”.

Stein urged Trump to consider Kobach for a major role in immigration enforcement, such as running U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Kelly now serves on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which makes recommendations to the secretary.

CORNISH: Talk about his qualifications when it comes to leading an agency like DHS. He’s worked with Colombia and Peru in their counternarcotics strategy.

Other agencies under the DHS umbrella include the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration, among others. So it’s this huge diversity of missions. He led the Marines in Iraq, and he’s been, as he says, in the fight.

Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday that he has “been asked and would consider it an honor”. He was our briefer on the march to Baghdad.

And in September, Trump said America’s generals are “embarrassing to our country”, but he blamed the leadership of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for that.

BURNETT: Well, he’s definitely a hardliner. Kelly also worked during the Obama administration as Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s senior military adviser.

“There could be no better choice”, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a Marine who served in Iraq. The current National Security Act requires any secretary of defense to be retired from the military for seven years, in an effort to ensure civilians would retain control over the sprawling military branch.