Chad Fredrick Wolf (born June 21, 1976) is an American former government official and lobbyist who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy, policy, and plans from 2019 to 2021.
A member of the Republican Party, Wolf previously served in several positions in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including as chief of staff of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and chief of staff to DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. From 2005 to 2016, he was a lobbyist, helping clients secure contracts from TSA. Wolf was an architect of the Trump administration family separation policy in 2018, and was prominently involved in the deployment of federal law enforcement forces in Portland and elsewhere beginning in July 2020.
In September 2020, a whistleblower accused him of having ordered staff to stop reporting on threats from Russia. In November 2020, District Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled Wolf's appointment unlawful, and overturned a set of Wolf's orders as "not an exercise of legal authority". Wolf resigned his post on January 11, 2021, after a number of similar court rulings.
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Early life and education
Wolf was born to James B. (Jim) Wolf and Cinda Thompson Wolf in Jackson, Mississippi. He grew up in Plano, Texas. He graduated from Plano East Senior High School and then attended Collin College on a tennis scholarship. He then transferred to Southern Methodist University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in history.
In 2013, he received a professional non-credit certificate in contract management from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Early career
Congressional staffer
Wolf worked as a staffer for Republican Senators Phil Gramm, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and then for two and a half years with Chuck Hagel. From 2002 to 2005, he worked in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), becoming Assistant Administrator for Transportation Security Policy in 2005. It was during this time he first worked with Kirstjen Nielsen.
Lobbyist
From October 2005 to 2016, Wolf was vice president and senior director at Wexler & Walker, a now defunct lobbying firm. He helped clients obtain contracts from the TSA.
First Trump administration
In March 2017, Wolf became chief of staff at the Transportation Security Administration. He served in that position for four months, then became Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Chief of Staff and the top aide to Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke.
In July 2017, Wolf became chief of staff to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. While working for Nielsen, according to congressional testimony, he was not involved in the development of the family separation policy and his function was to provide information to Nielsen and "not to determine whether it was the right or wrong policy". Wolf has said he "supported the President's decision when he issued an executive order to stop that practice".
Wolf then became Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Plans, Analysis and Risk, a Senior Executive Service position not subject to Senate confirmation. He concurrently served as Acting Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy, and Plans. He was nominated in February 2019 to serve permanently as Under Secretary, and his confirmation hearing was held that June.
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security
Wolf began serving as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security in November 2019. In November 2020, a federal court ruled his appointment unlawful and overturned a set of his orders. On January 6, 2021, Trump formally withdrew his nomination of Wolf. Wolf resigned on January 11, 2021.
Wolf's appointment as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security came after Kevin McAleenan's departure was announced on November 1, 2019.
The administration waited for Wolf's confirmation as Under Secretary before appointing him Acting Secretary to avoid appointing him as a principal officer from a non-Senate-confirmed position. DHS then had to move the Under Secretary position earlier in the line of succession, because the 210-day period in which an acting official was eligible to be named without a pending permanent nomination had expired. This, in turn, mandated that the Secretary's duties had to be performed by the department's senior-most confirmed official.
Wolf was confirmed as Under Secretary on November 13, 2019, on a 54–41 vote. He was sworn in as Acting Secretary the same day.
On November 15, 2019, House Democrats Bennie Thompson and Carolyn Maloney requested that the Comptroller General of the United States review the legality of Wolf's appointment on the basis that former Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan did not have authority to change the department's line of succession, asserting that former Secretary Nielsen had not properly placed McAleenan first in the line of succession before resigning and that McAleenan's change came after the 210-day limit to his authority had expired.
On August 14, 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) argued that Wolf had become Acting Secretary improperly. A number of federal courts later ruled that Wolf's appointment was invalid for reasons similar to those given by the GAO and issued orders on procedural grounds barring enforcement of rules Wolf had created.
On August 24, 2020, Trump announced that he would nominate Wolf as the permanent Secretary of Homeland Security. Wolf was expected to continue to serve as Acting Secretary during the confirmation process, as his acting appointment was made under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and not the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, which prevents most nominees from simultaneously acting in the same position. On September 10, 2020, the nomination was formally submitted to the Senate. On September 23, 2020, Wolf appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The committee reported his nomination favorably on September 30, but the full Senate took no further action before the end of the 116th Congress.
Post-Trump administration
The Heritage Foundation
Wolf is a former visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Wolf Global Advisors
In 2021, Wolf launched a consulting firm, Wolf Global Advisors, along with three other former Trump administration DHS officials.
Personal life
Wolf is married to Hope Wolf and has two sons.