Can Markwayne Mullin succeed as Homeland Security secretary?

President Trump’s firing of incompetent Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is welcome news. But unless he changes his harmful polices on immigration and other areas the Department of Homeland Security oversees, the department will continue to be plagued by problems and Americans will suffer.

Don’t expect the president to make massive changes.

For years, Trump has been an extreme opponent of unauthorized immigrants — especially non-white unauthorized immigrants. He has repeatedly promised to stop their “invasion” of the U.S. 

Immigration was a winning issue for Trump in the 2024 election, but his approval rating on the topic in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in February fell to just 38 percent. This came after immigration enforcement agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis who were among thousands of protesters around the nation against masked ICE agents grabbing suspected unauthorized immigrants off the streets and from their homes and workplaces to be deported.

You would think being on the wrong side of public opinion would prompt Trump to accept sensible Democratic proposals for reforming ICE and for comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants already in our country.

But Trump believes his policy choices are brilliant, and that they become unpopular only because the people who work for him don’t properly communicate and implement them. Consequently, he seems to believe that changing the public face of his immigration crackdown by firing Noem will increase his public approval.  

The new face Trump wants to put on his war on unauthorized immigrants is Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who served in the House for 10 years before becoming a senator in 2023.

Mullin will start serving as acting DHS secretary March 31 and will be able to hold that position while his nomination is pending in the Senate, where the Republican majority will likely confirm him to head the department. 

Crucially, even assuming Mullin is confirmed, much of Trump’s immigration policy will continue to be driven by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, an anti-immigration fanatic who advocates cruel mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants. This will limit Mullin’s influence.

Trump likes to say people should only be hired based on merit. In criticizing diversity, equity and inclusion programs, he has falsely claimed they give minorities and women positions they aren’t qualified to hold. But in truth, Trump has filled much of his Cabinet and other high-level appointments based not on merit, but on political loyalty. 

What Trump cares about most in picking political appointees is their willingness to do and say whatever he commands, and look like actors hired by “central casting” to appear on television as they fiercely attack his opponents and the news media in interviews and other appearances.

This blind loyalty to Trump — regardless of what the law or the Constitution says — helps explain the abysmal performance of the Trump administration in many areas. Too many Trump appointees, like Noem, don’t have the experience or ability to actually do their jobs. 

In addition to performing incompetently, Noem drew criticism from lawmakers and no doubt irritated Trump for extravagant spending of taxpayer dollars on self-promotion. Trump wants his subordinates to focus on making him look good — not themselves.

Noem had spent $220 million on video ads featuring herself very prominently, telling foreigners not to enter the U.S. illegally. To make matters worse in Trump’s eyes, Noem recently told a Senate committee hearing that Trump had approved the ad campaign — a claim Trump denied.

Noem had also been sharply criticized by federal and state lawmakers for cutting the workforce of the Federal Emergency Management Agency by nearly 10 percent (more than 2,400 employees), with possible additional cuts under consideration. She advocated shifting more disaster-response activities to state officials.

While Noem had executive experience as governor of South Dakota, Mullin’s only executive experience consists of running his family’s ranch and plumbing business and a restaurant in Oklahoma. He has a 5-0 record as a professional mixed martial arts fighter and is a member of the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Mullin will have plenty of problems to wrestle with at Homeland Security. First up will be ending the partial shutdown of the agency by winning approval of funding for its operations this year, which is being blocked by congressional Democrats as they seek sensible reforms at ICE. 

Once Mullin resigns his Senate seat, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) will have up to 30 days under state law to appoint a successor, who must sign a form stating he or she will not seek election to the seat when it is on the ballot in November. No Democrat has been elected to the Senate from Oklahoma since 1990, but in this year of Trump’s growing unpopularity, I won’t try to predict what might happen in the state in November. 

I hope Mullin proves me wrong and turns out to be a great Homeland Security secretary who reverses many of Trump’s awful policies. I also hope to win millions of dollars in a lottery. Unfortunately, I believe the odds of both these hopes coming true are about the same. 

A. Scott Bolden is an attorney, NewsNation contributor, former chair of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party and a former New York state prosecutor.  

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

More Opinions - Immigration News

98-year-old federal judge suspended for mental fitness appeals to Supreme ...

Lawmaker who accused Trump of Kennedy Center snub missed invite in spam folder

Powell called these 13 lawmakers as DOJ opened criminal probe

Hegseth orders ‘ruthless, no-excuses’ review of military legal offices

Military commanders given deadline to remove Anthropic products from systems

Hegseth says Iran’s supreme leader ‘wounded and likely disfigured’

Democrats block bill to reopen Homeland Security amid 27-day shutdown

Gulf countries press for end to Iran war with push for diplomacy

Trump threatens Iran leaders: ‘Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags ...

Hegseth blasts CNN: ‘The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the ...

The return-to-the-office trend backfires

The bright side of the 5th Circuit’s disturbing Ten Commandments decision

4 deaths confirmed in US military refueling aircraft crash in Iraq

Trump: New Iran supreme leader ‘probably alive in some form’

Leavitt pushes back against report of FBI warning of Iran threat to California

TSA lines at airports add pressure on lawmakers to end DHS shutdown

Landmark housing bill overwhelmingly passes Senate, faces uncertain future in ...

Hegseth announces task force to ensure US war colleges are ‘effective’

The Hill Podcasts – Morning Report

© The Hill