Kirstjen Nielsen’s Job Prospects Are Probably Pretty Slim
Apart from the president, she was the official most associated with family separations—and that won’t exactly endear her to the private sector.
Last May, Kirstjen Nielsen found herself doing what so many officials in the Trump administration had done before her: navigating rumors that she was soon to be fired.
Illegal border crossings were on the rise, and the president was angry. At the time, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was able to calm him down and reassure him of Nielsen’s competence. But the rumors persisted through the spring. So Nielsen, who had been helming the Department of Homeland Security for just five months, started to consider her options.
The career trajectory of a senior administration official who’s left government is typically filled with vaunted board seats and positions atop
