U.S. Senate confirms Biden's homeland security pick

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas as President Joe Biden's secretary for homeland security.

With a 56-43 vote in the upper chamber, Mayorkas will be the first Latino and the first immigrant to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after he is sworn in.

Mayorkas, 61, served as deputy secretary of the DHS in the Barack Obama administration from 2013 to 2016 and director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013.

The confirmation came shortly after the Senate approved Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a 2020 Democratic presidential contender, to be the Biden administration's transportation secretary.

Biden's Cabinet nominees for secretaries of State, Treasury, and Defense, as well as director of national intelligence, have been previously confirmed.