Senator seeks details on Halloween party at DHS agency
Susan Collins, R-Maine, says she is withholding judgment whether to support ICE chief Myers' re-nomination.
A key Senate Republican has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a controversial Halloween party at the Homeland Security Department, in which an agency director approved of a racially insensitive costume.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Wednesday she asked her staff to question Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Julie Myers over the incident.
Myers, whose confirmation is pending in the Senate, had judged an employee's costume of dreadlocks, dark makeup and prison stripes as the most original at an ICE party last week and even posed for photographs with the worker.
Collins said she is now withholding judgment whether to support Myers' nomination.
"I've directed my staff on the committee to question her about exactly what happened and what her response was," Collins said.
Collins said she expects the report within a week. Myers has apologized for the incident and said it was inappropriate. Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff on Tuesday said he launched an inquiry into the incident, and placed the employee who wore the costume on administrative leave.