The Senate voted Thursday afternoon to proceed with the nomination of Mayorkas. He has received support from Republican Sens Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of Western Virginia, and Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Mayorkas, who served as deputy secretary of DHS during the Obama administration, is a Cuban lawyer and one of the chief architects of the immigration program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Biden will announce immigration-related executive actions on Tuesday, including setting up a task force aimed at reuniting migrant families separated by the Trump administration at the border. Mayorkas will lead the task force.
The launch of the task force was originally scheduled for Friday, but was delayed over Senate Republicans’ objections to his nomination. It is unclear whether the delay will affect the timing of Biden’s announcement.
Sabrina Rodriguez contributed to this report.