Donald Trump’s most senior adviser, Susie Wiles, discovered the president’s controversial pick for ICE director at the same time as the rest of the world via Truth Social—while she was at her daughter’s wedding.
Since Trump’s June 27 social media announcement, his nominee Richard “Lance” Schroyer, 54, has faced an ongoing backlash over accusations that he is too inexperienced to run such a large and important agency, and that he was chosen for the role only because he is an old buddy of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, 48.
Now multiple senior sources close to the administration have told PunchUp—the Daily Beast’s sister investigations Substack—that Mullin got his man because he visited Trump in the White House on a Saturday, when the president’s top team was not around, to press Schroyer’s case.
Those missing included Wiles, Trump’s influential chief of staff, who had that day been out of town attending the wedding of her daughter, political lobbyist Caroline, to global hemp products supplier CEO Bret Worley in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Sources said Wiles, 69, only discovered Schroyer was to be the next ICE director when the president posted the announcement on Truth Social soon after meeting Mullin.
The timing is more evidence that Wiles is losing her grip on a White House operation which was being run much more efficiently on her watch during the second term than it was in the chaotic first term. There have been reports about her being the reason for a stand-off with Republican senators over the regulation of hemp, and then she was publicly accused of getting in the way of legislation because of her son-in-law’s involvement in the sector. These kinds of leaks about Wiles were certainly not happening in the early months of this administration.
With Wiles out of the picture, Trump announced Schroyer’s nomination on Truth Social.
“I am very pleased to announce that I have nominated Lance Schroyer to be our next ICE Director,” he wrote. “Lance has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma.”
PunchUp reported in late June that the move had “blindsided” the president’s immigration lead Stephen Miller, 40, and border czar Tom Homan, who were also not in the meeting. The outlet reported that the pick had sparked a “revolt” inside the department.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement that Trump “has always been the decision maker on who he nominates for vacancies in the Administration,” and denied his team had been “blindsided by his decision.”
Certainly none of Trump’s senior aides will have been impressed with the reaction to Schroyer’s nomination. PunchUp reported that his lackluster resume was being mocked across Capitol Hill, days after it was alleged the self-described “devoted father” had failed to pay child support for many years. That dispute ended when his ex-wife dropped the case.
Since Trump’s announcement, Schroyer has mounted a charm offensive, sources say, privately working the Republican senators whose votes will decide whether he gets the job.
Most have been publicly supportive of Schroyer, Axios reported, including Sen. Rick Scott, who said Schroyer “seemed like a smart guy.” Sens. Bernie Moreno, Ron Johnson, James Lankford and Josh Hawley told the outlet they were not concerned about his lack of experience.
Moreno said: “Look, what was my experience for being here in the Senate? I think you hire people because they have a great personality, because they’re smart, because they’re quick learners.”
However, in Trump’s Truth Social post, he wrote: “The Senate must CONFIRM Lance, IMMEDIATELY — Do not delay.” On the same day, Mullin also declared in a DHS statement: “The Senate must quickly confirm Lance Schroyer.”
Yet with the House now in recess, there is still no hearing date—which insiders had expected to be locked in by now—and Trump’s formal nomination paperwork only reached the Senate on July 20, White House records show.
It means that Schroyer remains unconfirmed in the role, as has every ICE director since 2017. Schroyer, who is a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, would replace Todd Lyons, who left in May.
A DHS spokesperson said the department was “firmly behind” Schroyer, noting that Mullin had “urged Lance’s swift confirmation in the U.S. Senate.”
Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.
