Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is leaving his position as sheriff to serve in President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, according to a report from WISN-AM.
Clarke, who has been Milwaukee County’s sheriff since 2002, confirmed he is leaving the Sheriff’s Office to become deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Vicki McKenna’s radio show Wednesday afternoon. “I’m looking forward to joining that team,” Clarke said on the talk show on 1130 WISN Radio.
Sheriff Clarke’s name had already been floated as someone who might be a good fit for Homeland Security. He also was briefly considered by some as a replacement for fired FBI Director James Comey.
The position of assistant secretary does not require Senate confirmation.
Over the course of the 2016 campaign, Clarke was elevated to the mantel of the nation’s most divisive law-enforcement figure. He emerged as one of President-elect Donald Trump’s most visible supporters on cable news, propping him up as he attempted to run a campaign heavy on law and order
