John Kelly
John Kelly is Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Timeline
| 2016.12.07 | Trump picks retired Marine General John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security. pbs.org (See also Department of Homeland Security, National Defense) |
| 2017.01.10 | John Kelly shies from Trump's wall and Muslim registry in confirmation hearing. theguardian.com (See also Mexico Wall, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration, Muslim Registry) |
| 2017.01.10 | These are some of the key points of John Kelly's confirmation hearing for Secretary of Homeland Security. theguardian.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Mexico Wall, Immigration, Muslim Immigration Ban, Muslim Registry) |
| 2017.01.16 | Homeland Security nominee Kelly says border wall "will not do the job." latimes.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Immigrants, Immigration, Mexico, Mexico Wall) |
| 2017.01.25 | This is a transcript of ABC News anchor David Muir’s interview with President Trump. abcnews.go.com (See also First 100 Days, Mexico Wall, NAFTA, Trade, Jeff Sessions, DACA, Voter Fraud, James Mattis, Mike Pompeo, Iraq, Infrastructure, Affordable Care Act, Muslim Immigration Ban) This is a transcript of ABC News anchor David Muir’s interview with President Trump on Jan. 25, 2017. |
| 2017.01.29 | DHS Secretary John Kelly says lawful permanent residents from 7 banned countries are now allowed into the U.S. twitter.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.01.29 | In the first week of the Trump Presidency, influence has run through a very select group of advisers—maybe as many as half a dozen, maybe as few as two. The President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Steve Bannon have consolidated their influence. newyorker.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Department of Homeland Security, Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner) "In normal times, an Administration this isolated and divorced from public opinion would seem to be fatally weak. The argument made by the President’s first week is that these conditions, combined with the general assent of a Republican-controlled Congress, might in fact create the opposite situation, freeing him to do whatever he wants." |
| 2017.01.30 | John Kelly claims customs officers immediately took steps to comply after court orders blocked detention of travelers under Trump immigration halt. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Department of Homeland Security) "Legislators expressed doubt on Monday that CBP was in fact in compliance with the court orders. The day before, four members of Congress were denied access to detained visa holders at Dulles international airport who were not processed through immigration despite the order – something a Virginia Democrat termed a constitutional crisis." |
| 2017.01.31 | Dozens of lawsuits were filed against immigration order. clearinghouse.net (See also Lawsuits, Muslim Immigration Ban, John Kelley, Immigrants, First 100 Days, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice) |
| 2017.01.31 | Leaked Trump order gives defense department equal footing with homeland security in civilian cybersecurity, and may give Pentagon bigger role, but White House announces signing is cancelled without explanation on Tuesday. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Cybersecurity, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, James Mattis) |
| 2017.02.01 | Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam and no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslims, Muslim Immigration Ban, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.02.07 | Homeland Security Chief John Kelly admits Muslim Immigration Ban was rushed nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Homeland Security, Muslim Immigration Ban, Immigration) |
| 2017.02.13 | Homeland Security chief Kelly responds after immigration raids spark outrage abcnews.go.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Immigrants, Immigration) |
| 2017.02.18 | A new version of Trump's immigration ban that could be issued as early as Tuesday will not stop green card holders, nor travelers in transit, according to Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly. reuters.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.02.20 | Department of Homeland Security confirms Trump Administration plans to deport illegal immigrants to Mexico even if the illegal immigrants aren't from Mexico. propublica.org (See also First 100 Days, Immigration, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.02.24 | Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says he doesn't believe it's possible to accomplish Trump's plans to hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents and 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to enforce executive orders on immigration in the next couple of years. npr.org (See also First 100 Days, Immigration, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.02.24 | Mexican Interior Secretary does not mince words when speaking alongside Rex Tillerson and John Kelly in Mexico City Thursday, saying: "We do not agree on the different measures that recently were stated by the government of the United States (that) affect Mexico." cnn.com (See also First 100 Days, Rex Tillerson, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Mexico) |
| 2017.04.06 | Twitter files lawsuit after the The Department of Homeland Security demands they reveal the identity of several Twitter accounts posting information critical of Trump. variety.com (See also Fascism, First 100 Days, Department of Homeland Security, Assaults on Civil Liberties) |
| 2017.06.07 | Former US director of national intelligence James Clapper says events in Washington now are more serious than the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, and that it is imperative investigators get to the bottom of the Trump administration’s links with the Putin regime. theguardian.com (See also Corruption, Trump Relationship with Russia, Russian Meddling in Election, Michael Flynn, James Mattis, H.R. McMaster) |
| 2017.07.28 | Trump ousted White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and replaced him with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, after only 6 months. washingtonpost.com (See also Reince Priebus, Department of Homeland Security, Trump Cabinet) |
| 2017.07.31 | Trump formally installed John F. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, as his White House chief of staff. washingtonpost.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Department of Homeland Security, Reince Priebus) |
| 2017.07.31 | Trump has relieved Anthony Scaramucci from his role as communications director, just 10 days after initially naming Scaramucci to the role. mic.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2017.08.16 | White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told associates he never intended to do an "interview" with an editor at the American Prospect, a left-wing publication. axios.com (See also Steve Bannon, North Korea) |
| 2017.08.25 | More than one-quarter of a panel tasked with advising the Homeland Security Department on cybersecurity and infrastructure protection resigned en masse, citing Trump’s “insufficient attention” to the nation’s cyber vulnerabilities, his response to racist violence in Charlottesville, withdrawing from the Paris Accord, among other complaints. defenseone.com (See also Racism, Nationalism, Environment, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.08.25 | Sebastian Gorka, a controversial White House staffer who served as a fiery spokesman for Trump on national security matters, abruptly left the administration. washingtonpost.com (See also Steve Bannon, Trump Cabinet, Nationalism) |
| 2017.10.04 | Republican Senator Bob Corker told reporters he thinks "Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis, and Chief of Staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos." axios.com (See also Rex Tillerson, James Mattis) |
| 2017.10.05 | White House officials believe that chief of staff John Kelly’s personal cellphone was compromised, potentially as long ago as December, raising concerns that hackers or foreign governments may have had access to data on Kelly’s phone while he was secretary of Homeland Security and after he joined the West Wing. politico.com (See also Administration Errors, Department of Homeland Security) |
| 2017.10.08 | Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, charged in an interview on Sunday that President Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.” nytimes.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, North Korea, Iran, False Statements, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis) |
| 2017.10.18 | Chief of Staff John Kelly and much of the White House were caught off-guard by Trump's comments about whether Obama called him after his son's death, a story Kelly has tried to keep private, and used it to defend his handling of four soldiers killed in Niger. cnn.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior) |
| 2017.10.20 | Chief of Staff John Kelly incorrectly told reporters from the White House podium that Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson claimed she "got the money" for a new FBI building at its dedication in 2015, as video of Wilson's speech at the event shows that she took credit for securing quick approval for naming the building after deceased FBI agents but never mentioned funding. axios.com (See also Administration Errors, False Statements, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2017.10.20 | The White House’s aggressive effort to discredit a congresswoman from Florida who criticized Donald Trump over a military condolence call ran into a new set of problems Friday when a video emerged showing that the chief of staff had made false claims about her. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements, Administration Errors) |
| 2017.10.31 | White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Monday called Robert E. Lee “an honorable man” and said that “the lack of an ability to compromise” led to the Civil War, setting off a firestorm while implying that "men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand." washingtonpost.com (See also Racism, Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2017.11.09 | As the Department of Homeland Security prepared to extend the residency permits of tens of thousands of Hondurans living in the United States, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly called acting secretary Elaine Duke to pressure her to expel them. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Immigration) |
| 2017.12.05 | The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Kirstjen M. Nielsen as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, installing a close confidant of White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly to lead the federal agency responsible for carrying out many of Donald Trump’s most ambitious domestic policy plans. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Homeland Security, Trump Cabinet) |
| 2017.12.14 | Donald Trump continues to reject the evidence that Russia supported his run for the White House as part of an unprecedented assault on a pillar of U.S. democracy. washingtonpost.com (See also Russia, Trump Relationship with Russia, Jared Kushner, Reince Priebus, H.R. McMaster, 2016 Campaign, 2016 Election) |
| 2017.12.23 | According to six officials, Donald Trump said to his advisers in the Oval Office that 15,000 visitors from Haiti "all have AIDS" and that once the 40,000 visitors from Nigera see the United States, they would never "go back to their huts" in Africa. nytimes.com (See also Racism, Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Immigration, Rex Tillerson, Stephen Miller, Nationalism) |
| 2018.01.17 | White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly told Democratic lawmakers Wednesday that the United States will never construct a physical wall along the entire stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and that some of President Trump’s campaign promises on immigration were “uninformed.” washingtonpost.com (See also Mexico Wall, Immigration) |
| 2018.02.07 | White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigns amid abuse allegations axios.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Women, Misogyny) |
| 2018.02.14 | A senior official on the National Economic Council resigned after being informed that he would not receive a permanent security clearance, as the White House faces increasing scrutiny over the number of high-ranking officials allowed to work on interim clearances. politico.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals) |
| 2018.02.16 | After less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people Trump originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. washingtonpost.com (See also Administration Errors, Trump Cabinet, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Tom Price, Ryan Zinke, Steven Mnuchin, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson) |
| 2018.02.27 | Presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has had his security clearance downgraded — a move that will prevent him from viewing many of the sensitive documents to which he once had unfettered access. politico.com (See also Jared Kushner, Nepotism) |
| 2018.03.07 | Several White House staffers have been terminated or reassigned for issues related to their security clearances — with at least one individual employed in the Office of the First Lady relieved of duty. abcnews.go.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Jared Kushner, Administration Errors) |
| 2018.03.09 | John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, has killed an effort by Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA to stage public debates questioning the validity of climate change science, thwarting a plan that had intrigued President Trump even as it set off alarm bells among his top advisers. nytimes.com (See also Climate Change, Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2018.03.16 | White House chief of staff John Kelly decided to share the story of a conversation with Rex Tillerson that Donald Trump would very soon fire him, while Tillerson was using the toilet, due to a food poisoning stomach bug. thedailybeast.com (See also Rex Tillerson, Department of State, unp, Unpresidential Behavior) |
| 2018.03.19 | White House chief of staff John Kelly has tapped Chris Liddell, a senior White House aide and former executive at Microsoft and General Motors, as his deputy. politico.com (See also Trump Cabinet) |
| 2018.04.24 | Donald Trump is increasingly relying on his personal cell phone to contact outside advisers, as he returns to the free-wheeling mode of operation that characterized the earliest days of his administration. cnn.com (See also Hypocrisy) |
| 2018.08.18 | Stephen Bannon departed the White House after a turbulent tenure shaping the fiery tone of Trump's first seven months in office. nytimes.com (See also Steve Bannon) |
| 2018.10.09 | Nick Ayers, the main focus of Donald Trump’s search to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff in recent weeks, declined the offer and said that he was leaving the administration at the end of the year. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Administration Errors) |
| 2018.12.08 | Donald Trump announced that White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly would exit his post by the end of the year, capping the retired Marine general’s rocky tenure as the president’s top aide and portending a major personnel shake-up as Trump prepares to navigate a divided Congress and focuses on his reelection campaign. washingtonpost.com (See also Reince Priebus, Resignations and Dismissals) Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence’s chief of staff, is widely expected to be Kelly’s replacement. |