One of President Donald Trump's newest Cabinet appointees is already facing calls to be fired, according to Axios, with his own hardline "MAGA enforcers" saying that he is "too soft" for the job.
Previously serving as a Republican senator from Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin was Trump's choice to replace Kristi Noem at the head of the Department of Homeland Security after her departure. Following on from her tumultuous and chaotic tenure, some in Washington expressed hope that Mullin would be able to lead the agency in a more even-keeled and professional manner, but now, his approach might be too subdued for the tastes of Trump's more hardcore anti-immigration supporters.
"Just [4.5] months after replacing Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin is feeling the heat from President Trump's MAGA enforcers," the outlet reported. "Mullin provoked border czar Tom Homan with an ICE nominee who has limited immigration experience, had to walk back changes in immigration policy, and angered the MAGA base with talk of immigration reform. Some MAGA activists see Mullin, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, as too soft on immigration and are already agitating for his ouster."
Mullin's conflict with Homan stems from his recent nomination of Lance Schroyer, "former Oklahoma state highway trooper and a member of Mullin's security detail," to lead ICE. Schroyer notably lacks any relevant immigration enforcement experience, "except for participating in a 287(g) agreement, a partnership that allows state and local officers to assist ICE with certain enforcement duties."
"I interviewed countless individuals, because we wanted... someone that could also be confirmed," Mullin told Fox News. "And here you have Lance that was literally right in front of me the whole time."
The nomination also drew withering criticism from Steve Bannon, the outspoken MAGA media figure and former top Trump adviser.
"ICE is an enormously complicated job," Bannon said. "And now with the heightened visibility on interior enforcement, it may be in the top three or four hardest jobs in government. You can't pick a cop from Oklahoma and think he's going to walk in and be able to do that, right? You're asking too much of somebody."
"Mullin has given Trump supporters other reasons to second-guess his decision-making at DHS," Axios added. "During a speech two weekends ago at the National Governors Association meeting in Oklahoma, Mullin suggested he backed immigration reform. MAGA's keyboard warriors saw that as Mullin supporting disguised amnesty for unauthorized immigrants, which they oppose. After fatal officer-involved shootings in Texas and Maine this summer, Mullin supported a pause on ICE agents stopping vehicles to make arrests. Trump quickly overturned the pause, with Homan's support."
Mike Howell, a former DHS attorney now heading up the Mass Deportation Coalition advocacy group, spoke about Mullin's time as DHS head, saying he "certainly hasn't given any hope to the true believers... that the [deportation] numbers will go up."