White House officials announced on Thursday that they had withdrawn President Donald Trump's nomination of former Oklahoma trooper Lance Schroyer to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), leaving the agency without a Senate‑confirmed director.
The decision comes after Senator Rand Paul, chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, stalled the nomination by refusing to advance it for a full vote. Paul demanded more information from the White House about the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during January confrontations involving ICE agents.
Schroyer, a 29‑year veteran of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and a former U.S. Marine, had been serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin before Trump nominated him in June. Mullin, an ally of Schroyer and a former Oklahoma senator, oversees ICE through the Department of Homeland Security.
ICE has not had a Senate‑confirmed director since 2017, relying instead on acting chiefs. David Venturella, who took over after Todd Lyons left in April, is expected to continue steering the 12,000‑person workforce while the administration weighs its next nominee.
The withdrawal has left ICE’s leadership vacuum widening amid a Trump‑era push for large‑scale deportations. The agency’s operations, including pending deportation cases and border enforcement activities, now depend on Venturella’s interim management.
Venturella will stay on as acting director while the White House seeks a new nominee, with no set date for a confirmation vote announced yet.