White House Stands by ICE Nominee After Scrapped Senate Vote

The White House is sticking with its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nominee even though he faces a tricky path to Senate confirmation.

Senators scuttled a planned procedural vote on the nomination Tuesday after a Republican raised questions about potential domestic violence allegations. Aides for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) didn’t immediately respond to questions about the move.

A White House official said the administration still supports Ed Gonzalez’s nomination and urged swift confirmation.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) on Monday urged Democratic leaders to delay the vote to look into a 2021 affidavit that suggests Gonzalez’s wife had accused him of domestic violence.

“It’s an unanswered issue that needs to be resolved,” Lankford said in a hallway interview after the vote was scrapped.

Gonzalez and his wife have denied that any allegations were ever made.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen M. Gilmer in Washington at egilmer@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah Babbage at sbabbage@bgov.com; Loren Duggan at lduggan@bgov.com