Donald Trump has accepted the resignation of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, with whom he has repeatedly clashed over his administration’s more hardline immigration policies, as he seeks more drastic action to address the “crisis” at the US southern border.
A senior administration official told CNN Ms Nielsen “believed the situation was becoming untenable with the president becoming increasingly unhinged about the border crisis and making unreasonable and even impossible requests”.
Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has meanwhile made eight criminal referrals to the attorney-general, William Barr, over the leaking of Mr Trump’s phone calls with ex-Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto and national security adviser Michael Flynn’s calls to a Russian ambassador.
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
As Congress battles Donald Trump to get a hold of his tax returns, New York state’s Democratic lawmakers are introducing new legislation to effectively allow the House to request the president’s filings.
Brad Hoylman, who is sponsoring the legislation, said in a statement, “His representatives say they will block all congressional efforts ... it turns out that New York state has those returns and can do its part to assist the Congress."
Mr Trump has sought to reinstate his policy of separating migrant families at the US-Mexico border, according to an NBC News report published on Monday, a day after Kirstjen Nielsen announced her resignation from the White House.
The president’s calls to once again systematically separate migrant families — many of them arriving at the nation’s southern border legally while seeking asylum — reportedly put him at odds with Ms Nielsen, the sixth secretary to oversee the federal agency.
The homeland security chief told Mr Trump the agency was unable to reinforce his policy as it defied federal court orders prohibiting the measure, multiple sources told the outlet.
