Markwayne Mullin Takes Over At A Precarious Moment For Dhs

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took the oath of office Tuesday, diving into the leadership of a department mired in crisis amid a weekslong shutdown.

Attorney General Pam Bondi swore Mullin in at a ceremony in the Oval Office as President Donald Trump looked on. There, the newly minted DHS secretary vowed he’d work for all Americans and told the president, “I won't let you down."

"I don't care what color your state is, if you're red or you're blue. At the end of the day, my job is to be secretary of Homeland and to protect everybody the same, and we will do that,” he said.

Mullin takes the reins of a department in turmoil. The agency has been without funding for more than five weeks, as Democrats continue to push for changes to the tone and tenor of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. And his predecessor in the post, Kristi Noem, was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for her stewardship of federal disaster relief and her decision to spend $220 million on a controversial ad campaign about self-deportations.

The White House has signaled over the last 24 hours that a deal to fund DHS could be at hand.

Trump, however, showed little patience with Senate Democrats on Tuesday. At the ceremony, he accused Democrats of wanting to stymie DHS and ICE with the aim of securing votes. He also insisted little will change about DHS’ approach to immigration enforcement.

“They want to open the borders again if they have their chance because they think they're going to get votes by doing that,” Trump said. “With Secretary Mullin at DHS, we will continue our record-setting efforts to deport these illegal alien criminals from our country, and we are doing it at record levels, despite a very unfair court system."

At his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Mullin pledged to be a different leader than his predecessor. At the ceremony, Trump expressed confidence in the new DHS chief, whom he trumpeted as a family man with a great business and athletic record.

“He has been outstanding. He's been a close and vital partner in helping secure the border, stop migrant crime and a surge of illegal drugs and make America safe again and make America great again,” Trump said. “Everything he has touched, he's turned to gold.”

Trump also did not offer any direct praise of Noem, whom he reassigned to a special envoy role focused on the Western Hemisphere and drug cartels. Instead, he credited border czar and White House adviser Tom Homan for helping secure the U.S. southern border with Mexico.