January 11th local time, according to several American media reports, Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, announced his resignation on the same day.
This is the third cabinet-level official in the Trump administration to resign after the riots in the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
The U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) specifically mentioned that Wolf urged Trump to condemn the violence after the riots, and the White House withdrew his nomination for his formal appointment.
Earlier, Trump “Twitter” appointed Wolff as the full Secretary of Homeland Security last year, but a federal judge ruled that Wolf’s appointment as Acting Secretary was “illegal”.
CNBC reported that Wolfe said in a letter to DHS staff that his resignation was due to “recent events”, including court rulings on the validity and legitimacy of his acting secretary.
“At this critical moment of power transfer, events have shifted increasing concerns to the vital work of the Department of Homeland Security.” In his letter, Wolf said that he was “sad” about his resignation, because he did not intend to leave before the end of his term.
“I am sad to take the step (resignation) because I intend to serve the Department of Homeland Security until the end of this government term.
Wolf wrote in the letter.
Wolfe took up the post of acting Secretary of Homeland Security from November 2019, and last November, a federal judge ruled that his position was “illegally in office”.
In addition, last August, Trump officially appointed Wolf as Secretary of Homeland Security by “tweeting”, but just days after the congressional riots, the White House withdrew his nomination for officially appointing Wolf as Secretary of Homeland Security.
After the congressional riots, Wolff reportedly urged Trump to condemn it, calling the incident “sad and disgusting”.
“This is unacceptable.” “The violence is unreasonable, and I implore the President and all officials to strongly condemn the violence that occurred yesterday (6th)” Wolf said in a statement at the time.
At the same time, he stressed that participants in the riots should be held accountable for their actions.
However, when withdrawing the nomination for Wolff’s formal appointment, the White House said that the move had nothing to do with its remarks about Trump after the riots.
CNN quoted Wolf as saying that Pete Gaynor, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will serve as the acting Secretary of Homeland Security after his resignation.
CNN and CNBC both pointed out that Wolf was another cabinet-level official in the Trump administration who resigned since the riots in the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Previously, U.S. Secretary of Transport Zhao Xiaolan and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have announced their resignations.
Zhao Xiaolan said that Trump supporters broke into the Capitol and caused the United States to experience a “painful but completely avoidable incident” that she was “deeply troubled and unable to ignore”.
DeVos wrote to Trump: “There is no doubt about the impact of your words on the situation, which is a turning point for me.
I think this behavior is completely unacceptable, and I think to myself, I just can’t continue to do it.
In addition, resignations have been submitted, including the Chief of Staff of the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump, the White House Social Secretary and Trump’s Deputy National Security Adviser.
Sources told CNN that other officials have been considering resigning recently.
