Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has fired nearly all members of the department’s independent advisory panel, retaining only its senior leadership, according to a letter obtained by media outlets and confirmed by Republicans on a House committee. In the March 26 letter (pdf) to members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), Mayorkas announced that in “the service of an orderly transition to a new model for the HSAC,” he would be ending the current term of all HSAC members, effective March 26. Mayorkas wrote that, in weighing the “new model” for the HSAC, he’s considering how it can “bring the greatest value to the Department and how the expertise, judgment, and counsel of its members can be harnessed most effectively to advance the Department’s mission.” The dismissed members include both Democrats and Republicans, as well as Trump-era officials such as former DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli and former acting Immigration …