White House Pulls Schroyer's ICE Nomination After Paul Stalls

The White House withdrew Lance Schroyer's nomination to lead ICE after Sen. Rand Paul blocked a hearing over unanswered questions on civilian deaths.

The White House on Thursday, September 17, 2026, withdrew the nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A notice was published on the White House website, and neither the notice nor a brief statement gave a reason for the withdrawal. Schroyer, a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, had been nominated by President Donald Trump in June but never received a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Acting ICE Director David Venturella is expected to remain in his role for the time being, according to an ICE spokesperson. ICE said a fuller statement is forthcoming.

The nomination collapsed not over Democratic opposition but because of a Republican blocker. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, refused to schedule a hearing until the Department of Homeland Security provided information he had requested about civilian deaths during ICE enforcement operations, including the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota by federal agents. Paul told The Associated Press, as reported by NPR, that he had no concern about who the nominee was: '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. And I'm still waiting.' According to a person familiar with the decision cited by NBC News, Paul was unsatisfied with how much information the White House provided about the Minnesota shootings.

Schroyer had never worked at ICE or led a major law enforcement agency, and Reuters reported at the time of his nomination, per Al Jazeera, that two U.S. officials considered him a surprise choice. The Guardian reports that some DHS officials expressed skepticism about his qualifications, with unnamed DHS employees telling Politico in August they did not want him to take over the agency. Trump had announced the pick in June on Truth Social, calling Schroyer 'a PATRIOT with real operational experience' with 'DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst,' and urging the Senate to confirm him immediately. Mullin, who knew Schroyer from his time as a U.S. senator for Oklahoma, was his top pick to succeed Todd Lyons, who resigned in April.

The withdrawal ensures ICE, the agency at the center of Trump's mass deportation agenda, will remain without a Senate-confirmed director for at least a while longer; it has not had one since 2017. The agency remains under withering scrutiny: arrests reached nearly 51,000 in August, the highest monthly total of Trump's second administration, and federal immigration officers have shot and killed multiple people during enforcement operations, including two U.S. citizens in Minnesota earlier this year. Critics have also questioned how ICE recruited and trained officers during its rapid expansion. The Guardian reports that acting director Todd Lyons faced condemnation for refusing to apologize to the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti before leaving the post in May.

The White House has not indicated when it might announce another nominee to lead ICE, and it is unclear who that might be. Venturella, a former executive at a private prison operator, continues as acting director. Paul told The Associated Press, as reported by NPR, that he had intended to hold a hearing on Schroyer's nomination and only learned it had been withdrawn when the White House made the decision public on Thursday. The White House, DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment on the withdrawal or on Paul's outstanding demands. Separately, Zara Larsson joined a growing list of artists — including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande — criticizing the administration for using their music in ICE deportation videos, as the White House weighs a draft executive order to create a government-led cybersecurity incubator.

The episode highlights a rare fracture inside the administration's own coalition on immigration. Just a day earlier, Trump-backed Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar released an ad saying the crackdown went too far, and the nomination fell to a GOP committee chair demanding transparency about civilians killed in enforcement operations. With no confirmed leadership at ICE, the acting-director arrangement that has persisted since 2017 looks set to continue indefinitely.