Wyden delays Biden border nominee, seeking answers on federal actions during Oregon protests

 Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus, right, is President Biden’s nominee to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He is shown July 19 at a news conference in Tucson with Fire Chief Charles "Chuck" Ryan. (Rebecca Sasnett/Arizona Daily Star/AP)

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is stalling the confirmation hearing of President Biden’s pick to run U.S. Customs and Border Protection over questions about the federal government’s role in quelling protests in his home state.

Wyden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, congratulated Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus in April after Biden nominated him to serve as commissioner of CBP, the nation’s largest law-enforcement agency.

But Wyden says his committee will not hold the confirmation hearing until the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice answer questions about the federal agents deployed by the Trump administration to Portland, a liberal stronghold in the Pacific Northwest.