The vote to essentially install Wolf as acting head comes as Senate Republicans have complained about the Trump administration’s high number of acting officials. But they nevertheless approved Wolf’s nomination, arguing that DHS needs stability.

“We need some continuity at the Department of Homeland Security and I think he would provide that ... I don’t think the Democrats are going to let us confirm a bunch of people between now and the election,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. But he conceded: “We’ve got a lot of acting people — that’s not ideal by any means.”

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said he still had concerns about the number of acting officials in the administration, but like many of his Republican colleagues, he blamed Democrats for previously blocking the confirmation of permanent appointees.

“For two and a half years the Democrats in the Senate pretty much prohibited us from doing that, and I think it got us into a bad pattern of thinking acting was more acceptable than it should be,” Blunt said. “But right now there are a lot of circumstances beyond just the White House on this.”

Democrats reject those accusations and say Republicans have only themselves to blame.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Wednesday prior to the vote that by appointing Wolf as an acting secretary, the White House was undermining the Senate’s role.

“The Republican majority thinks it’s just fine,” Durbin said on the Senate floor. “The Senate will actually have a chance to vote on this individual, Chad Wolf... to become an undersecretary on his quick path to becoming an acting secretary on his even quicker path to be in some way retired or fired.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) added: “There’s no way we can delay these nominations. I wish we could, but we don't have the power. The plain fact is that the president seems to like- or love- acting heads of agencies, probably because it’s easier to get rid of them.”

Wolf was first nominated to become undersecretary for policy in February, but the Senate never confirmed him for the role. Under federal vacancy law, Wolf has to hold a Senate-confirmed role to lead the agency.

Trump announced earlier this month that Wolf would replace Kevin McAleenan as acting secretary. McAleenan resigned from his role in October, after telling The Washington Post that he lamented his lack of control over the agency’s tone.

Trump initially favored installing Ken Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner, to lead the department, but faced significant blowback from Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Cuccinelli was once president of the Senate Conservatives Fund, which ran primary campaigns against Republican incumbents.

Wolf will be the fifth person to lead DHS under Trump. The agency is tasked with carrying out the president’s immigration agenda, one of his top priorities.

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Wolf, who is currently acting DHS undersecretary for policy, was previously Nielsen’s chief of staff and worked as a lobbyist for the National Association of Software and Services Companies, which aims to maintain the H-1B visa program for foreign workers with exceptional skills. Wolf’s work for the trade association has prompted some concern from immigration hard-liners that he will not be tough enough to satisfy the president.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sees no issue with the Senate’s maneuver to confirm Wolf to become undersecretary of policy so that he can be named acting head of DHS. But he called on the president “to quickly nominate someone that we can confirm in the Senate” on a permanent basis.

Johnson and the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), also sent a letter to Trump last week urging him to act swiftly to fill vacancies at the agency. Among the names the White House is reportedly considering for permanent DHS secretary is Mark Morgan, who is now acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who voted for Wolf, cautioned on Tuesday against the administration’s allowing for too many acting officials.

“I am concerned that there are far too many people in acting capacity,” Collins said. “That makes it more difficult for us to carry out our oversight role and it causes a lot of chaos at departments, so I don’t think it’s a good practice.”

Anita Kumar contributed to this report.