Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will huddle with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon, following a bipartisan backlash to President Donald Trump’s executive order halting refugee entries and banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Republican and Democratic committee leaders have been invited to the closed-door meeting with Kelly, according to Democrats familiar with the plan. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said he has already communicated directly with Kelly and will not be attending.
Kelly is one of several of Trump’s chosen Cabinet members who were reportedly unaware of the details of the executive order before Trump signed it – a revelation that many members of Congress found perplexing.
Several Republican lawmakers were irate that Trump did not warn them about the executive order, despite promises to keep them in the loop about major policy moves. Many complained that the order was “too broad,” especially in targeting legal permanent residents who happened to be out of the country, and in its apparent focus on Muslims – despite the administration’s protestations that the order was not a Muslim ban.
Kelly released a statement over the weekend announcing that allowing U.S. green card holders to enter the country was “in the national interest” and that absent “significant” information to the contrary that indicates a threat to public safety, someone’s lawful permanent residency should allow them re-entry into the United States on a case-by-case basis.
Nonetheless, lawmakers still want to Kelly to detail how he intends to implement the order – a point Democratic committee ranking members stressed in a letter they sent to him Sunday night, as reported by Politico, asking for an “emergency meeting.” Since then, Trump has fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who ordered the Justice Department not to defend the executive order over concerns it might not be lawful.
The Tuesday meeting may not satisfy others on the Hill who want their own audience with Kelly to demand answers. On Monday, a group of Democratic senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee also sent Kelly a letter asking for an emergency meeting with the Homeland Security chief to discuss “your plans to implement President Trump’s order” as it pertains to legal permanent residents and the use of a religious criteria to determine who is allowed entry into the United States.
