Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed by a 56-43 vote, the narrowest margin yet for a Biden Cabinet nominee.
The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday as President Joe Biden’s homeland security secretary, the first Latino to fill a post that will have a central role in the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, a sweeping Russia-linked cyber hack and domestic extremism.
Mr. Mayorkas was confirmed by a 56-43 vote, the narrowest margin yet for a Biden Cabinet nominee. The first immigrant to serve in the job, he is expected to lead a broad policy overhaul of an agency that was accused of being deeply politicised as it carried out President Donald Trump’s initiatives on immigration and law enforcement.
Mr. Mayorkas is a former federal prosecutor who previously served as a senior DHS official. His nomination was stalled in the Senate by Republicans who wanted to question him further on Mr. Biden’s plans for immigration policy. He also faced questions over his…