"To the Senate of the United States, I withdraw the nomination of Ronald D. Vitiello, of Illinois, to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, vice Sarah R. Saldana, which was sent to the Senate on January 16, 2019," it reads, attributed to President Donald Trump.
Austin Altenburg, a spokesman for Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, confirmed that they received paperwork from the White House Thursday evening withdrawing Vitiello's nomination.
No other details were initially provided on why the nomination was being pulled. The White House and Department of Homeland Security have not responded to a request for comment.
This comes after a tough confirmation process in which Vitiello's past controversial social media posts came to light and the agency's union strongly opposed the nomination.
Trump nominated Vitiello, who's been leading ICE in an acting capacity since late June, to head the agency in August. He previously served as chief of the US Border Patrol and acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held over his nomination at the Democrats' request.
But last month, ICE appeared a step closer to having a permanent director after the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted to move the nomination to a floor vote.
That vote came after two previous delays on his nomination, which had thrown into question whether he would be confirmed for the position.
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