markwayne mullin sworn in as dhs secretary
Senator Mullin is now sworn in as the next Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). His priorities are going to be dealing with several immigration and budget issues that are significantly impacting immigration policy and then also air travel in the United States due to TSA agents not being paid and long lines in airports. Some of those issues are highlighted in the Politco article I’ve copied into this blog posting below. He will have his hands full on immigration issues, with likely MMA style battles with Stephen Miller in the White House pushing his extremist views on deportations. Remember what got Kristi Noem in hot water was that she was in lockstep with Stephen Miller (not to mention the $200M DHS funded ad campaign) and his maximus approach and goals to deport 3,000 illegal immigrants a month.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not mentioned…likely because there is no immediate crisis in the public’s eye. I have been wondering about a Presidential Declaration for Hawaii. I’ve not seen that in the news just yet, while that island state is having some record flooding on multiple islands. Perhaps Hawaii has not sought a declaration?
If I was Mullin, my first priority would be selecting a qualified and competent emergency manager to lead FEMA and getting that person confirmed so that he has a capable person in the agency to “right the ship” and start making forward progress. I’d also make a quick decision on what to do with the FEMA Council’s DRAFT Final Report (this is the one that was rewritten by DHS) with the White House cancelling their final meeting to reveal the report. I have not seen a copy of the Council’s original report that was over 100 pages long. Confusing—yes!
Politico
Markwayne Mullin faced little friction in his ascent to President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, gliding from the bouncy-ball-wielding junior senator from Oklahoma to secretary of Homeland Security in just 19 days — a full week ahead of the March 31 date that Trump gave when he unceremoniously ousted Kristi Noem via Truth Social earlier this month.
Moments from now, Trump is set to swear him in. The hard part comes next.
Mullin is inheriting the department most central to both Trump’s domestic policy agenda and Democrats’ criticism of his presidency. The hard-line tactics used by the federal agents Mullin now oversees has turned public opinion against Republicans’ handling of immigration — once among the party’s strongest issues — months ahead of the midterms. Mullin’s DHS has been shut down for nearly 40 days, snarling airports nationwide amid rising fears over terrorism stemming from the war in Iran. And today, Minnesota sued DHS and DOJ for access to investigation materials regarding the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration officers.
It’s a political risk for Mullin, a 48-year-old college dropout and former MMA fighter who once pledged to only spend six years as a federal lawmaker. Noem is the only Cabinet secretary Trump has fired this term, collapsing beneath an avalanche of scandal in the course of her own political rise. During his confirmation hearing, Mullin presented himself as a more pragmatic foil to Noem’s hard-charging approach, reminding his Senate colleagues that they have his cellphone number and promising to respond if they reach out.
“My goal at six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day,” Mullin said. The vow stands in opposition to the department’s status under Noem’s leadership over the past year, as she crisscrossed the country — and world — in a near-constant stream of photo-ops.
But Mullin will now have to answer to a White House still bent on effectuating the largest mass deportation campaign in history — in which conspiracism, cruelty and chaos are frequently features, not bugs.
In a Truth Social post at 1:48 a.m., Trump once again platformed the debunked conspiracy theory that Democrats are “fighting so hard to neutralize ICE” because they want unauthorized immigrants to vote. And last week, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller — the architect of Trump’s immigration crackdown — encouraged lawmakers in Texas to halt public education for undocumented children, NYT’s Lauren McGaughy reports.
As extremely long TSA lines rankle travelers across the country — generating scores of negative headlines — and ICE agents descend on airports, the White House appears ready to accept Senate Republicans’ deal to end the shutdown, POLITICO’s Myah Ward reports. That framework would fold into a new GOP reconciliation effort funding most of the department, save for ICE enforcement operations, which are already funded under the GOP megalaw.
