President Donald Trump will nominate Kirstjen Nielsen, who as top aide to his White House chief of staff has sought to instill order in Trump's team, to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.
If confirmed by the Senate, Nielsen would take the reins at a sprawling department with more than 240,000 employees that is responsible for U.S. border and airport security, immigration policy, disaster response, refugee admissions and other matters.
Nielsen, 45, is a cybersecurity expert with a considerable resume in homeland security that includes work at the department's Transportation Security Administration and on former Republican President George W. Bush's White House Homeland Security Council.