Overview
- In a post on X, Ingrassia said he was pulling out of Thursday’s Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing because he lacked enough Republican votes.
- A White House representative said he is no longer the nominee, and he continues serving as the administration’s liaison to the Department of Homeland Security for now despite calls for his removal.
- Politico reported alleged group‑chat messages in which Ingrassia wrote that he has a “Nazi streak,” denigrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and used a racial slur, intensifying months of scrutiny over his past conduct and associations.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “He’s not going to pass,” and Republicans Rick Scott, Ron Johnson and James Lankford signaled opposition, enough to stall the nomination on a panel with a narrow GOP edge.
- Ingrassia’s attorney questioned the authenticity and context of the leaked texts and argued that, even if real, they were self‑deprecating satire, citing the risk of manipulated messages in the age of AI.