Washington:: The United State Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday as President Joe Biden's homeland security secretary, the first Latino to serve a post that will have a central role in the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, a sweeping Russia-linked cyber hack and domestic extremism.

Mayorkas is a former federal prosecutor who previously served as a senior Department of Homeland Security official. He served as deputy secretary of the DHS in the Barack Obama administration from 2013 to 2016 and director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009 to 2013.  His nomination was stalled in the Senate by Republicans who wanted to question him further on Biden's plans for immigration policy. He also faced questions over his management of an investor visa programme under President Barack Obama.

With a 56-43 vote in the upper chamber, Mayorkas will be the first Latino and the first immigrant to lead the US DHS post after he is sworn in, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

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 Defence, as well as director of national intelligence, have been previously confirmed.

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