Republicans to Trump: Stop Firing Security Officials

Grassley says he is 'very, very concerned'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 9, 2019 5:23 AM CDT
Updated Apr 9, 2019 6:34 AM CDT
Republicans Urge Trump to End Purge of Security Officials
"He's pulling the rug out from the very people that are trying to help him accomplish his goal," Grassley says.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Trump's purge of top immigration officials has to stop, says Sen. Charles Grassley, the chamber's most senior Republican. Grassley tells the Washington Post that Trump is ousting "good public servants" and he is "very, very concerned" that Lee Francis Cissna, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, could be next to go. Officials like Cissna are the "intellectual basis for what the president wants to accomplish in immigration," Grassley says. "He's pulling the rug out from the very people that are trying to help him accomplish his goal." Grassley also slammed senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, saying it would be hard for the immigration hardliner "to demonstrate he's accomplished anything for the president."

Grassley wasn't the only Republican senator calling for Trump to show restraint Monday, Politico reports. Numerous lawmakers criticized the administration over the ouster of officials including Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Neilsen, whose perfomance was praised. She "was doing the best she can. She can’t make Congress get off its ice-cold, lazy butt and fix the asylum laws. She can’t build a wall by herself. She can’t make the Central American countries work with us," says GOP Sen. John N. Kennedy. "Only the president can do that. If someone resigns and then the White House staff cuts 'em to pieces, I just think that’s classless." Other Republicans spoke of the need for stability, with Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson saying he is "concerned with a growing leadership void" at DHS. (Secret Service chief Randolph Alles is also departing.)

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