On January 16, 2018, Nielsen testified before the United States Senate in favor of merit, rather than family, based immigration.
She was questioned about an earlier meeting at the White House in which press reports and Senator Dick Durbin related that the president had used the word "shithole" to describe African countries, as well as disparaging remarks about Haiti.
Nielsen said, "I did not hear that word used, no sir," although she said she heard "tough language" that was impassioned.
During the same hearing, Senator Patrick Leahy asked her whether Norway was a predominantly white country.
Nielsen appeared to hesitate before answering with, "I actually do not know that, sir."
She added, "But I imagine that is the case."
Nielsen was criticized by Senator Cory Booker for not recalling or speaking out against Trump's disparaging remarks which Booker characterized as bigoted.
Following the hearing, Nielsen expressed her disappointment in the amount of attention being paid to the White House meeting.

From March to December 2018, Nielsen sat on the Federal Commission on School Safety.

On March 23, 2018, it was reported that Nielsen agreed with the enactment of the Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security Regarding Military Service by Transgender Individuals.

At a May 2018 congressional hearing, Nielsen said that she was unaware of the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to help candidate Trump get elected.
An assessment by the FBI, CIA and NSA in January 2017 was that the Russian preference was clearly to help Trump win; this assessment was mirrored in a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee released days prior to Nielsen's testimony.
Nielsen said that she had not seen the intelligence community briefing that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 election.
Nielsen later, in May 2018 backtracked, saying that she agreed with the intelligence community's assessment.

In July 2018, Nielsen said there were no signs that Russia was targeting the 2018 midterm elections in the same "scale or scope" as it did in 2016.
At the Aspen Security Forum, Aspen, Colorado, during an interview by Peter Alexander of NBC on July 19, 2018, Nielsen stated that Russians had absolutely interfered in the United States presidential election in 2016.
When Alexander asked if Russians had interfered in favor of Donald Trump, Nielsen responded, "I have not seen any evidence that the attempts to interfere in our election infrastructure was to favor a particular political party.
I think what we have seen on the foreign influence side is they were attempting to intervene and cause chaos on both sides."
Prior to this on July 16, 2018, at the joint press conference in Helsinki after 2018 Russia–United States Summit, Jeff Mason from Reuters asked President Putin, "Did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?"
Putin's response was: "Yes, I wanted him to win.
Because he talked about bringing the U.S.–Russia relationship back to normal."

During the same interview at the Aspen Security Forum when Alexander further asked whether the president has made countering white supremacy a priority, Nielsen replied that he wanted the DHS to prevent "any form of violence" threatening Americans.
Referring to President Trump's response to clashes between the white supremacists and counter-protesters at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017, Alexander asked, "But in the comments that are obviously highly publicized when he [President Trump] placed blame in his words on both side, does that make your job harder when [p]resident says things that at least in those communities are viewed as he has got our [white supremacists'] back?"
She said, "I think what is interesting about that is we saw, and I think we continue to learn— maybe there was different, whether it was foreign influence or different purposeful attempts to get both sides, if you will, aggr
On January 16, 2018, Nielsen testified before the United States Senate in favor of merit, rather than family, based immigration. She was questioned about an earlier meeting at the White House in which press reports and Senator Dick Durbin related that the president had used the word "shithole" to describe African countries, as well as disparaging remarks about Haiti. Nielsen said, "I did not hear that word used, no sir," although she said she heard "tough language" that was impassioned. During the same hearing, Senator Patrick Leahy asked her whether Norway was a predominantly white country. Nielsen appeared to hesitate before answering with, "I actually do not know that, sir." She added, "But I imagine that is the case." Nielsen was criticized by Senator Cory Booker for not recalling or speaking out against Trump's disparaging remarks which Booker characterized as bigoted. Following the hearing, Nielsen expressed her disappointment in the amount of attention being paid to the White House meeting.
From March to December 2018, Nielsen sat on the Federal Commission on School Safety.
On March 23, 2018, it was reported that Nielsen agreed with the enactment of the Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security Regarding Military Service by Transgender Individuals.
At a May 2018 congressional hearing, Nielsen said that she was unaware of the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to help candidate Trump get elected. An assessment by the FBI, CIA and NSA in January 2017 was that the Russian preference was clearly to help Trump win; this assessment was mirrored in a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee released days prior to Nielsen's testimony. Nielsen said that she had not seen the intelligence community briefing that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 election. Nielsen later, in May 2018 backtracked, saying that she agreed with the intelligence community's assessment.
In July 2018, Nielsen said there were no signs that Russia was targeting the 2018 midterm elections in the same "scale or scope" as it did in 2016. At the Aspen Security Forum, Aspen, Colorado, during an interview by Peter Alexander of NBC on July 19, 2018, Nielsen stated that Russians had absolutely interfered in the United States presidential election in 2016. When Alexander asked if Russians had interfered in favor of Donald Trump, Nielsen responded, "I have not seen any evidence that the attempts to interfere in our election infrastructure was to favor a particular political party. I think what we have seen on the foreign influence side is they were attempting to intervene and cause chaos on both sides." Prior to this on July 16, 2018, at the joint press conference in Helsinki after 2018 Russia–United States Summit, Jeff Mason from Reuters asked President Putin, "Did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?" Putin's response was: "Yes, I wanted him to win. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.–Russia relationship back to normal."
During the same interview at the Aspen Security Forum when Alexander further asked whether the president has made countering white supremacy a priority, Nielsen replied that he wanted the DHS to prevent "any form of violence" threatening Americans. Referring to President Trump's response to clashes between the white supremacists and counter-protesters at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017, Alexander asked, "But in the comments that are obviously highly publicized when he [President Trump] placed blame in his words on both side, does that make your job harder when [p]resident says things that at least in those communities are viewed as he has got our [white supremacists'] back?" She said, "I think what is interesting about that is we saw, and I think we continue to learn— maybe there was different, whether it was foreign influence or different purposeful attempts to get both sides, if you will, aggr
Kirstjen Nielsen