President Trump has pulled his own pick to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leaving one of the government’s most contested agencies without a confirmed leader heading into the next stretch of his mass deportation push.
Quick Take
- The White House withdrew Lance Schroyer’s nomination to lead ICE on September 17, less than three months after Trump named him for the job.
- Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper with 29 years of law enforcement experience, never got a confirmation hearing.
- Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul held up the nomination while demanding more details on a deadly shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis.
- ICE has gone without a Senate-confirmed director since 2017, and this move keeps that streak alive.
A Sudden Reversal After Months of Silence
The White House gave no public reason for dropping Schroyer, according to a brief notice posted Thursday. Trump had praised him just months earlier as someone qualified to “detain and deport illegal alien criminals.”
Schroyer’s 29 years in law enforcement, including his time as an Oklahoma trooper, had been the centerpiece of his case for the job.
Schroyer was also known as an ally of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, described by one report as Mullin’s “good friend” inside the department.
That connection made him a natural pick for an administration eager to install loyal leadership atop an agency central to its deportation agenda. It also made his stall in the Senate more notable, since it wasn’t a lack of White House backing that slowed him down.
Trump yanks ICE pick after fears of Republican resistance in latest DHS shake-up https://t.co/gubL7lVY39
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) September 17, 2026
One Senator Held the Line
The real obstacle sat with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Paul refused to schedule a hearing until the Trump administration handed over more information about federal agents involved in a deadly shooting in Minneapolis in January, one that killed two American citizens. Paul made clear this was never about Schroyer’s résumé.
“I don’t have a concern with who the nominee was. I had asked them to give me an update on the internal investigation into civilian deaths,” Paul told the Associated Press. That statement matters.
It confirms the holdup was a demand for accountability on a specific incident, not a broader fight over Schroyer’s fitness for the role.
An Agency Nine Years Without Confirmed Leadership
ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since January 2017, running instead on a string of acting officials. That gap predates Trump’s return to office by years and reflects how toxic this particular confirmation has become for both parties.
The agency’s size, budget, and role in immigration enforcement make the director post a lightning rod no matter who occupies the White House.
This is not the first administration to watch an ICE nominee collapse. Under President Biden, nominee Ed Gonzalez withdrew after more than a year of waiting for a Senate vote that never came.
The pattern suggests a structural problem with how the Senate handles this specific job, not a one-off failure tied to any single nominee or president.
White House Withdraws Lance Schroyer’s Nomination to Lead ICE
The White House abruptly withdrew President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leaving the agency at the center of his immigration agenda without a Senate-confirmed director.
An…
— 🇺🇸⭐️OUR-VOICES⭐️🇺🇸 (@iswho) September 19, 2026
What Comes Next for ICE Leadership
With Schroyer gone, ICE continues under acting leadership as the administration presses forward with its deportation operations.
The White House has not signaled who might be nominated next, and Reuters noted the withdrawal statement gave no explanation at all. That silence leaves open whether the administration will try again soon or let the acting arrangement continue.
The bigger question is whether Paul’s demand for transparency on the Minneapolis shooting gets answered before any new nominee reaches his committee.
Until the Department of Homeland Security provides the update he wants, any future pick faces the same roadblock. Voters who support tough immigration enforcement also deserve oversight when federal agents take American lives in the field.
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