Kristi Noem Sidelined Tom Homan. He’s Working To Make Sure It Doesn’t Happen Again.

Tensions between border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ran so high over the last year that they barely spoke. Homan is determined to avoid a repeat.

Homan is making a concerted effort to quickly build a relationship with Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Noem at the Department of Homeland Security, according to three people close to the administration who are familiar with the efforts. The border czar has already introduced Mullin to key Trump allies, as well as players in the immigration policy space, as the senator gears up to take the reins at the sprawling government agency responsible for some of the president’s top policy priorities.

It’s a way for Homan, a 40-year veteran of immigration enforcement, to exert his influence and serve as an adviser to the White House and DHS, hovering between both worlds. It’s how Homan allies hoped his border czar role would work when Trump returned to office, but his toxic relationship with Noem — and her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski — froze him out of key decisions, fueling a disjointed enforcement effort.

“I definitely get the sense that Homan is trying to be more involved with Mullin from the get-go,” said one of the people, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. “I think he just wants to make sure that he plays a larger role in how interior enforcement is done going forward.”

Homan and Noem had vastly different ideas about how to approach the president’s immigration enforcement agenda. Homan — an immigration hardliner and the architect of the Trump administration’s 2018 family separation policy — took issue with Noem’s flashy approach across U.S. cities, which resulted in clashes with community members and protesters, ultimately doing little to significantly advance the administration’s deportation goals.

Though Homan maintained relationships inside the White House, the border czar was often sidelined in top-level DHS discussions about the administration’s interior enforcement strategy. That shifted last month after federal agents in Minneapolis killed two U.S. citizens, causing a swift political backlash against Trump’s immigration agenda. The president removed Noem, and her ally, then-Border Patrol commander at-large Gregory Bovino, and deployed Homan to Minneapolis to work with local officials and ease tensions.

The White House declined to make Homan available for an interview but a White House official said his role “isn’t changing,” and that he will continue to work with officials across the administration on a “variety of projects critical to the president’s immigration agenda.” And while there was tension between Noem and Homan, the official said the border czar’s “close relationship” with other officials at DHS allowed for “continued collaboration.”

“Tom Homan is an American patriot, career law enforcement officer, and a lifelong public servant who has played a critical role in implementing the president’s America First agenda,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson. “Tom has worked closely with relevant agencies to help ensure the president’s success and he will continue to do so with new DHS leadership. Sen. Mullin will do an excellent job working with relevant partners to build off of the president’s historic successes at the Department of Homeland Security.”

DHS did not respond to a request for comment, but Lewandowski, in a brief phone interview Wednesday, praised Homan’s efforts at the border and said he was unaware of any outreach to Mullin. He did not specifically address the idea that DHS sidelined Homan under Noem, saying, “He’s the border czar. We’ve got the most secure border in American history, and closed it within 30 days. It’s incredible what’s been done there.”

The hope now among Trump and Homan allies is that Mullin’s appointment will provide room for administration officials to set internal tensions aside — and an opportunity for Homan to work alongside the DHS secretary. That set-up, they argue, will allow Homan to have more input in the administration’s interior enforcement strategy, and to ensure he and Mullin are aligned when questions arise about the best approach.

“Tom’s just going to be able to actually carry out the role of the border czar that it was originally intended to do, that Kristi and Corey literally cut him off from doing,” said Mark Morgan, who served as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol during the first Trump administration. “You’re going to see the secretary that’s actually going to utilize Tom in the role that the border czar was designed for, and to seek his guidance, to seek his knowledge, to see his expertise.”

 While a fresh start offers Homan an opportunity for a better relationship, it doesn’t guarantee it. Noem and Homan didn’t just disagree on tactics and policy; they both wanted to be perceived as in charge.

“Homan doesn’t want to be subordinate” to DHS leadership, said a fourth person close to the administration, granted anonymity to discuss personnel.

Mullin, a first-term senator and a Trump ally, is still a stranger among immigration hawks. People close to the administration don’t foresee him running into the same issues Noem did — critics accused her of being too focused on appearing on television and her 2028 ambitions — but they also know little about the Oklahoma senator’s political aspirations or how he might approach the job.

A spokesperson for Mullin declined to comment.

The Oklahoma senator enters the fray at a tense moment for the administration, which is attempting to re-calibrate its message following the political backlash after the shootings in Minnesota. He may also begin his tenure amid a partial government shutdown as Democrats have, so far, refused to fund DHS until the White House agrees to a list of demands for enforcement reform.

And he and Homan — no matter how well they work together — still face a daunting challenge: appeasing two constituencies inside the GOP with very different views on immigration. Some Republicans, including many in the business community, want the administration to focus on criminals, not the unauthorized immigrants employed at hotels, construction sites or on farms, while immigration hardliners want the administration to forge ahead with the president’s campaign promise to target the millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.

“Mullin has an opportunity to switch the department's focus away from just like the small number of violent criminals and towards Trump’s campaign agenda,” said Mike Howell, president of the conservative Oversight Project. “And that’s where the fight’s really moving. [Sen. Thom] Tillis and others, they’re going to try to use this confirmation process to lock them into lower enforcement.”