Mullin to lead Homeland Security in crisis
By: Zachary Schermele
USA Today
WASHINGTON - with immigration hard-liner Markwayne Mullin scheduled to be sworn in as the hear of the Department of Homeland Security on March 24, [2026] the pugilistic Oklahoma Republican senator is tasked with leading a critical federal agency that has been partially shut down for nearly six weeks.
.....
Mullin faces the agency's mounting crisis as well as the immigration agenda of a White House that has increasingly found its enforcement policies to be a political liability in a midterm year that could cost the president party control of Congress.
..... After the killings in January [2026] of two Minnesotans by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers, Democratic refused to fully fund DHS, the 9/11-era Cabinet agency those divisions fall under, until the White House agrees to reforms. Funded by other cash reserves, ICE and CBP have continued operating.
..... After a period of relative calm, the consequences of the shutdown have been dramatically worsening, seemingly by the day. The operations of the Transpiration Security Administration, or TSA, which is part of DHS, have rapidly devolved as unpaid workers call out sick with greater frequency, causing security lines to snake around airports across the country. Negotiations to reopen DHS have gained steam in recent days amid the tenuous situation.
.....
Mullin, a close friend of President Donald Trump's and a lawmaker with an adeptness at navigating congressional dynamics between the House and Senate has pitched himself as the person to right the ship. He's demonstrated a willingness to ensure that lawmakers are better informed about Homeland Security operations.
..... He also said during his Senate confirmation hearings that under his leadership, ICE would not conduct immigration raids without a judicial warrant. That concession has been a sticking point in negotiation to end the DHS shutdown and one to which the White House still hasn't publicly agreed.
.....
"We will not enter a home or place of business, without a judicial warrant," he told lawmakers, "unless we're pursing an individual."
..... On March 23, [2026] two Senate Democrats - Senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico - helped confirm Mullin to replace Kirsti Noem.
..... Heinrich said in a statement, that though it may "support some people," he considers Mullin a friend.
..... "I have also seen first-hand that Markwayne is not someone who can simply be bullied into changing his views," he said. "I look forward to having a secretary who doesn't take their orders from (Trump adviser) Stephen Miller."
..... The largely partisan Senate confirmation vote 54-45, was a break from precedent, as senators of both parties have in the past shown at least some difference to their colleagues in the legislative chamber to support them for Cabinet positions.
.....
All GOP senators except for one, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted to confirm Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter who ran a multimillion-dollar plumbing business before he was first elected to Congress as a member of the House more than a decade ago.
.....During Mullin's confirmation hearing, Paul, the chairman of the Senate committee that oversees DHS, called him a "man with anger issues."
.....
"I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against the political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force," Paul said.