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Harris County, Texas Sheriff Withdraws As Biden’s Nominee to Head ICE

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Another far-left nominee of President Joe Biden has decided to withdraw his name from consideration for a top post within the Department of Homeland Security.

Ed Gonzalez, the sheriff of Harris County, Texas — home to Houston — has taken himself out of consideration to become director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Gonzalez’s nomination has been stalled in the Senate for more than a year amid several allegations including one for domestic violence, which his wife has claimed are false and defamatory, according to Just the News.

In a statement, Gonzalez said he came to his decision to withdraw his nomination after “prayerfully considering what’s best for our nation, my family, and the people of Harris County who elected me to serve a second term as sheriff.”

There has been no confirmed director of ICE since 2017.

The outlet adds:

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The allegations against Gonzalez stem from a years-old suit at Houston Community College that included an affidavit from a college officer alleging that he was called to a domestic dispute incident at Gonzalez’s home.

Gonzales’ wife, Melissa Gonzalez, has said she never made any such complaint.

“Any suggestion that I filed or made a complaint against my husband is false and defamatory. To be clear, the assertions referenced in the affidavit, as they relate to me, my husband, or my marriage, are completely false,” she wrote in a March letter.

The sheriff has been a regular and vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and his immigration and border enforcement policies. In 2017, Gonzalez ended his county’s agreement with ICE for local deputies to help carry out immigration enforcement.

He also refused to lend deputies so they could take part in high-profile ICE raids, claiming the “drive undocumented families further into the shadows.”

Other far-left nominations made by President Joe Biden have fallen through as well, thanks in large part to the evenly divided Senate.

Saule Omarova, Joe Biden’s nominee for the office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has withdrawn her nomination after both Republicans and Democrats came out against her nomination.

“Senators, including Democrats such as Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), became increasingly critical of the Biden nominee as Breitbart News and other organizations revealed her controversial vision for the American banking system. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) told Breitbart News in late October that Omarova’s support of Communist ideals disqualifies her for the position, a move that pressured Tester to oppose her nomination,” Breitbart reported.

“In her academic work, she has called to eliminate all bank accounts and to transfer all bank deposits to FedAccounts at the Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank. When talking about FedAccounts, the former senior government official said, ‘The Democratic Party over the last couple of administrations, they want the government to essentially take over a lot of financial functions from banks,'” the report added.

“Sens. Tester, Mark Warner (D-VA), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) called Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) late Wednesday, announcing their opposition to the comptroller nominee. Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) also announced their opposition to her, effectively sinking her confirmation,” the report concluded.

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“The White House continues to strongly support her historic nomination,” an official in the White House said to Axios.

“Saule Omarova is eminently qualified for this position,” the official said. “She has been treated unfairly since her nomination with unacceptable red-baiting from Republicans like it’s the McCarthy era.”

The pick was born in the Societ Union and attended Moscow State University. As a senior, she penned a thesis named “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in the Capital.”

She said that the financial services industry was a “quintessential asshole industry” and has said that wants to “end banking as we know it” by having private bank accounts administered by the Federal Reserve.

During her hearing on November 19 Republicans hammered her.

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“You have the right to believe every one of these things. You do. This is America. But I don’t mean any disrespect. I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade,” Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said.

“Senator, I am not a communist, I do not subscribe to that ideology, I could not choose where I was born, I do not remember joining any Facebook group that subscribes to that ideology, I would never knowingly join any such group,” she said in response to the senator.

But she faced criticism from many other Republicans.

“There’s a lot that’s extraordinary and radical here—but maybe the heart of it is that Ms. Omarova doesn’t just want tightened regulation of banks. What she wants to, and I quote—this is her words—‘effectively end banking as we know it.’ Those are words she wrote just last year,” Sen. Pat Toomey said in a speech.

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