U.S. President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles looks on, at the White House, in Washington, U.S. February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/
President Donald Trump's chief of staff was completely "blindsided" by a top administration nomination that the president announced out of the blue.
The Daily Beast reported Monday that Susie Wiles had no idea that Trump was nominating controversial Richard "Lance" Schroyer to take over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Schroyer, a former Oklahoma State Highway Patrol officer and close friend of Secretary Markwayne Mullin, is already facing backlash, Axios reported. Schroyer has no experience aside from "participating in a 287(g) agreement, a partnership that allows state and local officers to assist ICE with certain enforcement duties."
The Beast reported that Mullin was able to secure his pal as the pick because he personally visited Trump at the White House on a Saturday when Wiles was at the wedding of her daughter. Wiles only found out about Schroyer when it was announced on Truth Social by the president.
“I am very pleased to announce that I have nominated Lance Schroyer to be our next ICE Director,” Trump cheered. “Lance has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma.”
A June report also indicated that deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and immigration advisor Tom Homan were both “blindsided” by the announcement. They too didn't know anything about the meeting. At the time, it was reported that there was a "revolt" inside the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said that the president “has always been the decision maker on who he nominates for vacancies in the Administration.” She called it false that Trump's team was “blindsided by his decision.”
Meanwhile, across Capitol Hill, Schroyer is being mocked because he declared himself a “devoted father” and only a few days later it was discovered that he didn't pay child support for many years. His ex-wife ultimately dropped the case.
Behind the scenes, Schroyer has been working with Republican senators in an effort to secure the job. According to the Axios report, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fl.) said Schroyer “seemed like a smart guy.” Others said that they weren't concerned about his lack of experience. Mullin similarly had no experience with managing a massive operation like DHS, much less a budget of over $100 billion.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) explained away Schroyer's inexperience by saying that he also personally has no experience when he was elected as senator.
“Look, what was my experience for being here in the Senate? I think you hire people because they have a great personality, because they’re smart, because they’re quick learners," claimed Moreno.
Trump demanded on Truth Social that the Senate confirm Schroyer immediately, but the formal paperwork didn't get to the Capitol until July 20. Lawmakers famously head back to their districts in August or use it as a vacation month.
A DHS spokesperson said the department was “firmly behind” Schroyer, and that Mullin “urged Lance’s swift confirmation in the U.S. Senate.”