ICE Director Nominee Lance Schroyer's Confirmation Stalls Amid Internal Agency Revolt and Rand Paul Hold

A Washington Post investigation published August 19, 2026 detailed how Lance Schroyer, Trump's nominee since June 27, 2026 to be the first Senate-confirmed ICE director since the Obama administration, helped lead one of the nation's harshest state-level immigration crackdowns as a Oklahoma Highway Patrol major — training all 700 of the agency's troopers to enforce immigration law alongside ICE. Schroyer, a 29-year Oklahoma law enforcement veteran and former Marine now serving as a senior adviser to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (whose security detail he previously worked), has seen his confirmation hearing stall for weeks because Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) is withholding a hearing until the administration provides more information on federal agents' killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier in 2026. Politico and the Daily Beast separately reported that ICE officials themselves largely oppose the pick, preferring Acting Director Dave Venturella — a Homan ally — remain in place; one DHS official told Politico, 'We don't want [Schroyer]. We don't need him. Leave us alone. We are running better than ever,' while another called Mullin's selection 'not even JV level for literally the most important job in the admin that remains unfilled,' citing Schroyer's lack of a deportations track record. No ICE director has been Senate-confirmed since 2014; the post has been run by a succession of acting heads for 12 years.