After a year of spiraling public opinion due to heavy-handed deportation tactics that culminated in the on-camera murder of two US citizens, Trump seeks to give the Department of Homeland Security a refreshed image by replacing Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin. But according to reporters at the Bulwark, the switch is unlikely to bring real change, and amounts to “an effort to put lipstick on a pig.”
Under Noem, perceptions of DHS suffered due to a combination of the agency’s aggressive tactics and her highly controversial actions, from spending $220 million of public money on an ad campaign featuring herself, to handing out lucrative no-bid contracts to those in her orbit. The final straw came when she threw Trump under the bus at a recent congressional hearing, asserting that he had approved her contested expenditures. Shortly after that, she was fired.
Trump then nominated his close ally Mullin for the role, but if he hopes the swap fixes the agency’s PR problem, the fact that the senator’s positions are so similar to Noem’s suggests it will do little to course-correct.
In the wake of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, Mullin’s stance showed little daylight from that of Noem, saying those killed should be investigated for “terrorizing” the city, and that Noem’s position was “absolutely, 100-percent correct.” According to Mullin, agents accused of brutality and murder are just “doing their job.”
Then after images of the deportation of 5-year-old Liam Ramos drew public outcry — even among Republican senators — Mullin asserted that he “spoke to Secretary Noem” about it, and that they agreed that the real problem was the reporting. “There probably should be some lawsuits filed against this,” he said.
Statements like these and others imply that DHS will show little to no change under Mullin’s leadership. Rather than appointing him out of a genuine desire to reform the agency, it is more likely that Trump tapped Mullin due to his loyalty to the president. Mullin, for example, has repeatedly stated his belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and that the January 6 insurrection was the fault of Nancy Pelosi.
This MAGA loyalty, says critics, indicates that he will simply pick up where Noem left off.
“Noem wasn’t doing this without their [the administration’s] authority,” said Texas Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido. “I have no doubt he [Mullin] is going to do what they tell him to do.”