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Wartime-like recruitment posters. Sign-on bonuses of up to $50,000. Massive hiring events. Reduced age requirements. Superman.
It's all been part of the Trump administration's campaign to attract new applicants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And so far, it's brought in more than 110,000 applications, ICE deputy director MADISON SHEAHAN said in an interview with West Wing Playbook. Thirty percent of applicants are military veterans and roughly 10 percent are coming from other federal law enforcement agencies, Sheahan said.
The administration's targeting of law enforcement recruits comes amid fears from Democrats and immigration advocates that the Trump administration is going to rely on unqualified recruits to quickly fill the 10,000 new ICE agent jobs they got out of the GOP's megabill.
'This is the first time ICE has ever had a major plus up. So the beauty of that is that we can learn from the best practices of other agencies,' Sheahan said. 'That huge presence that we're seeing from former military and former federal law enforcement — those are people that have been vetted their entire career and have done great work for this country their entire career. And so having them a part of our ranks is really going to be helpful when it comes to a lot of the criticism that we're getting right now.'
The speed at which the agency executes the plus up — from 20,000 to 30,000 agents — is a delicate balance. Moving too quickly could amplify concerns that the agency didn't thoroughly vet and train new agents at a time when ICE faces mounting scrutiny. But moving too slowly could delay the agency's efforts to meet the White House's goal of 3,000 daily arrests and 1 million annual deportations.
'We have an opportunity to do this throughout the president's entire term, and we'll continue to do that until our ranks are filled,' Sheahan said. 'Obviously, the pressure is on nationwide for us to serve the American people, and so we want to make sure we deliver for them.'
ICE's human resources department is sorting through the 110,000 applications, which include candidates interested in deportation officer roles, as well as for jobs as criminal investigators under Homeland Security Investigations and for attorneys and personnel in the agency's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Sheahan said. As of July, the agency had issued over 1,000 offers to former ICE agents and officers who had left under the Biden administration — a number that has since grown, according to an ICE spokesperson.
The administration's efforts to target law enforcement officers, particularly at the state and local level, for recruitment has frustrated local sheriffs. But for the administration, in addition to pushing back on the narrative of unqualified recruits, it also alleviates some of the pressure on vetting and training, given these candidates already come with experience.
The criticism facing the agency has reached a fever pitch in recent months, as Democrats, immigration advocates and lawyers decry everything from the masking of agents to ICE's aggressive tactics to increase arrest numbers — with a number of polls showing the agency's decreasing popularity among Americans. A July Quinnipiac University poll found that 57 percent of voters disapprove of how ICE is enforcing immigration law, while another from CNN that same month showed that 53 percent of Americans opposed increasing ICE's budget by billions of dollars.
And now, as concerns circulate about the agency's ramp-up, experts are comparing this moment to the rapid build-up of Customs and Border Protection after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States under former President GEORGE W. BUSH. At that time, the hiring process raised questions about the administration's standards and led to corruption and misconduct at the agency.
'The last thing you want is somebody who has no law enforcement experience whatsoever and is gung ho about working for ICE under Trump,' said SCOTT SHUCHART, a former senior ICE official during the Biden administration. 'That's the worst of all worlds.'
It's why some administration officials and Trump allies are warning that no one should expect the number of new agents to increase as fast as the Trump administration has been able to tout new recruitment numbers. The hiring blitz requires building out ICE's human resources department to help sort through the thousands of new applications, officer trainings, office space, vehicles and weapons — a huge undertaking.
'We're trying to be judicious. We're background checking people. We're not taking crazies,' said a Trump administration official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. 'There's this myth out there that we're just taking everybody, and we decline a lot of positions.'
MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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POTUS PUZZLER
During a visit to the White House in the 1940s, former British Prime Minister WINSTON CHURCHILL had what spooky encounter?
(Answer at bottom.)
The Oval
ON THE CLOCK: The White House launched its official TikTok account Tuesday evening, which, erm, didn't go too well. You can take a look at the comments yourselves.
For those not on TikTok: The first post is a montage of the White House, with the caption: 'We're so back.' The first comment, which has more than 20,700 likes, is an AI-generated photo of President DONALD TRUMP holding a sign that says 'I'm The Dumbest President in 248 Years.' The second comment, with 12,700 likes, is another AI-generated photo of Trump cuddling with JEFFREY EPSTEIN, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Trump once advocated for banning TikTok, calling it a national security threat, but in his second term has repeatedly extended the deadline for the app's owner, ByteDance, to sell to a non-Chinese buyer. Negotiations have stalled amid the U.S.'s broader trade war with China.
Agenda Setting
FRIES WITH THAT? Vice President JD VANCE, Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH and White House deputy chief of staff STEPHEN MILLER this afternoon made an unannounced visit to the National Guard troops positioned at Union Station in Washington D.C., Irie reports. From a second-floor Shake Shack, Vance thanked the soldiers for 'actually keeping this place safe,' referencing their deployment to the nation's capital.
'You guys bust your ass all day. We give you hamburgers. Not a fair trade, but we're grateful for everything you guys do,' the vice president said. His staffers presented them with boxes of burgers.
As three of the most powerful men in the world attempted to seize yet another media moment broadcasting the White House's crackdown on crime in Washington, protesters in the station drowned them out. Shouts of 'Free D.C.,' echoed throughout the historic train hall.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY: Hegseth's unusually large security requirements are straining the Army agency tasked with protecting him as it pulls agents from criminal investigations to safeguard family residences in Minnesota, Tennessee and D.C., WaPo's TARA COPP, ALEX HORTON and DAN LAMOTHE report. The 'sprawling, multimillion-dollar initiative' has forced the Army's Criminal Investigation Division to staff weekslong assignments in each location to monitor residences belonging to all of Hegseth's former spouses.
'I've never seen this many security teams for one guy,' said one CID official. 'Nobody has.'
The Pentagon declined to address several questions submitted by The Post. Spokesperson SEAN PARNELL said in a statement that 'any action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.'
DOD acting deputy press secretary JOEL VALDEZ said in a post on X that all three of the journalists involved should face 'severe punishment' for publishing the story.
TRIED AND FAILED: Lt. Gen. WILLIAM J. HARTMAN, the acting director of the National Security Agency, tried to protect one of his top scientists from losing his security clearance after Director of National Intelligence TULSI GABBARD pulled clearances for 37 current and former national security officials on Tuesday, NYT's JULIAN E. BARNES reports.
The effort was unsuccessful. Gabbard, on orders from the president, fired the scientist, VINH NGUYEN, who was a leading government expert on artificial intelligence, cryptology and advanced mathematics. Hartman called Gabbard in the days before the decision and asked to see the evidence that Nguyen, the agency's chief data scientist, had done anything that merited the removal of his security clearance.
Gabbard denied the request.
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
NEXT INTO THE TANK … Trump this morning called on Federal Reserve board member LISA COOK to resign after housing finance regulator BILL PULTE opened a new avenue of attack against the central bank, our VICTORIA GUIDA reports. In recent days, Pulte referred Cook to the Justice Department, saying she 'potentially' committed mortgage fraud, by allegedly naming two different properties as her primary residence on loan applications in 2021.
Board members can only be removed 'for cause,' which has been interpreted to mean that the president can't fire a member over policy differences.
'Cook must resign, now!!!' Trump posted on Truth Social.
Musk Radar
REMEMBER ME? Billionaire ELON MUSK has pumped the brakes on his pledge to start a political party, WSJ's BRIAN SCHWARTZ reports. The former DOGE chief has told his allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies and is hesitant to alienate prominent Republicans by starting a third party that could poach GOP voters.
Since launching his passion project, he's been focused on maintaining a relationship with Vance, whom he has stayed in touch with. Musk has acknowledged that if he goes ahead with forming a political party, it would damage his standing with the vice president.
Musk and his associates have told people that he is considering using some of his vast financial resources to back Vance if the VP decides to run for president in 2028. Musk and his team have not engaged with many individuals who have voiced support for the idea of a new party or could be crucial in getting the idea off the ground, including by assisting with getting on the ballot in crucial states.
In a post on X, Musk responded to the story, writing that 'Nothing @WSJ says should ever be thought of as true.'
What We're Reading
The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis (NYT's Shane Goldmacher, with Jonah Smith)
Republicans voted to slash Biden-era transportation grants. Their constituents aren't happy. (POLITICO's Chris Marquette and Sam Ogozalek)
How DOGE Set Up a Shadow X Account for a Government Agency (WIRED's Vittoria Elliott)
A Letter to America's Discarded Public Servants (William J. Burns for The Atlantic)
Trump's Tactics Mean Many International Students Won't Make It to Campus (NYT's Anemona Hartocollis)
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
According to MARK NESBITT's book, 'Civil War Ghost Trails: Stories from America's Most Haunted Battlefields,' Churchill took a hot bath — accompanied by a glass of scotch and cigar — at the White House. He emerged from the tub and strolled into the adjoining room, without clothes, supposedly running into the ghost of former President ABRAHAM LINCOLN leaning on the mantle of the fireplace.
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