Kirstjen Michele Nielsen (; born May 14, 1972) is an American attorney and national security expert serving as the 6th and current United States Secretary of Homeland Security.
Nielsen is a former Principal Deputy White House Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, as well as chief of staff to John F. Kelly during his term as Secretary of Homeland Security.
On December 5, 2017 she was confirmed by the Senate, and was sworn in the next day.
Video Kirstjen Nielsen
Early life and education
Nielsen grew up in Clearwater, Florida. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1999.
Maps Kirstjen Nielsen
Early career
Nielsen served during the George W. Bush administration as special assistant to the president and as senior director for prevention, preparedness and response at the White House Homeland Security Council. She also set up, and led as Administrator, the Transportation Security Administration's Office of Legislative Policy and Government Affairs. Before serving in the Trump administration, she was a senior member of the Resilience Task Force of the Center for Cyber & Homeland Security committee at George Washington University and served on the Global Risks Report Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum.
Nielsen is the founder and former President of Sunesis Consulting. Sunesis was awarded numerous government contracts under President Obama's administration.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Nielsen previously served as John F. Kelly's Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security. She had informally performed the role of White House Deputy Chief of Staff since Kelly assumed the office of White House Chief of Staff on July 31, 2017, at which point Elaine Duke became acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
Secretary of Homeland Security
On October 11, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Nielsen to be the new United States Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing acting secretary Elaine Duke. On December 5, 2017, the Senate confirmed her nomination, by a 62-37 vote. On December 6, 2017, she was sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security.
On Tuesday, January 16, 2018 Secretary Nielsen testified before the United States Senate and enunciated a position in favor of merit-based immigration, as opposed to the current immigration system based on family relations. She was questioned about a previous meeting at the White House on the topic of immigration in which press reports and Senator Dick Durbin stated that the President had used the word shithole to describe African countries and other disparaging remarks about Haiti. Nielsen said "I did not hear that word used, no sir" although she said she heard "tough language" which was impassioned. During the same hearing, Senator Patrick Leahy asked Secretary Nielsen whether Norway was a predominantly white country. Kirstjen Nielsen appeared to hesitate before answering, "I actually do not know that, sir." She added, "But I imagine that is the case." Nielsen was criticized by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker for not recalling or speaking out against Trump's disparaging remarks which Booker characterized as bigoted. Following the hearing, Nielsen expressed her disappointment in the amount of attention being paid to the White House meeting.
On 9 March, Nielsen led the official United States delegation at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
See also
- List of female United States Cabinet Secretaries
References
External links
Media related to Kirstjen Nielsen at Wikimedia Commons
- Appearances on C-SPAN
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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