The incoming Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Wednesday history will not remember John Kelly’s tenure as White House chief of staff fondly.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi said Kelly’s refusal or inability to push back against President Trump on immigration and homeland security policy reforms cost him his reputation.
“Over the past two years, General Kelly seemed completely unable or unwilling to stand up to the President as he continues to take the country down a dark path. He has little of substance to show for his tenure in this Administration. General Kelly is no victim however — and it is clear that history will not be kind to his complicity and willingness to blindly serve this President,” Thompson said in a statement.
“It is truly sad that John Kelly, who served the country admirably in the military, has had his reputation and service tarnished by serving President Trump both at DHS and the White House,” he said.
Kelly first joined the Trump administration two years ago when Trump nominated the Marine Corps general to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
In mid-2017, Trump pulled Kelly from DHS and had him replace then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.
Kelly has served in that capacity for a year and a half until early December, when Trump announced his top aide was leaving.
Under Kelly, the Trump administration significantly lowered refugee acceptance rates, blocked citizens from a handful of Middle Eastern countries with large Muslim populations from entering the U.S., dismantled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and moved to block illegal entrants from being able to apply for asylum, among other reforms.
[Read more: John Kelly: Trump not building a ‘wall’]
