Markwayne Mullin: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Noem Boss

WHEN DONALD TRUMP announced he was dumping Kristi Noem as his secretary of homeland security and replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, some framed the decision as a much-needed refresh for a beleaguered agency.

Noem accumulated more than her share of baggage during her fourteen months atop the nation’s main immigration-enforcement department. She’s been accused of launching a massive ad campaign with her as the star; handing out a sweetheart no-bid contract for part of that PR blitz to a company that subcontracted some of its work to the firm of a top aide’s spouse; commissioning the purchase of a luxury jet with a bedroom in the back; and carrying on a brazen affair with her adviser and “special government employee” Corey Lewandowski.

But while Mullin hasn’t done anything quite like the above, the soon-to-be head of DHS can hardly be considered baggage-free.

Consider the chaos this winter that consumed Minnesota following the ramp-up of ICE and CBP forces there. The Oklahoma Republican repeatedly defended the aggressive enforcement actions, according to an extensive review by The Bulwark of his television appearances and public utterances during that time. He kept up the cheerleading even after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents.

When officers shot Renee Good as she attempted to drive away from the scene of an ICE protest, Mullin echoed Noem’s assessment that Good had engaged in an act of domestic terrorism. “They are terrorizing their city right now,” he told News Nation. “What [Noem] said was absolutely, 100-percent correct.”

During a CNN interview a few days later, reporter Kaitlan Collins pressed Mullin on whether authorities should investigate Good’s killing—something that Noem and the FBI have both resisted, even going so far as to refuse cooperation with local officials. “If they’re investigating anything, they need to be investigating the paid protesters, and who’s paying them to obstruct federal officers,” he declared at one point.

In another CNN interview, Mullin was presented with video showing that ICE officers shot Good two times from the side of the vehicle, in addition to once from the front. He discounted the video. “That’s very selective imaging that you guys are using,” he told host Jake Tapper.

Weeks later, when Alex Pretti was shot and killed on the streets of Minneapolis after he moved to protect a woman who had been pushed by ICE, Mullin again attacked the victim.

“Tell me what crime that ICE is doing other than doing their job,” he told Fox News. “Unfortunately, a . . . deranged individual that came in to . . . cause max damage, with a loaded pistol, with an extra mag that was completely loaded, was shot and killed. How much more of this is going to go on before the Democrat leaders there take responsibility for their words?”

In a separate interview with Fox Business, he responded to his colleague Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who had said ICE was murdering U.S. citizens. Mullin made clear that he was mad as well—at Murphy. “Well, these American citizens are actually impeding federal officers from doing their job,” Mullin stressed.

Mullin is well liked by his congressional colleagues, and his comfort with media appearances has turned him into a messaging asset to the administration and helped sand down his once-gruff public image. Some former Mullin foes have come around. For example, Sean O’Brien, the head of the Teamsters union—whom Mullin once challenged to a fight during a public hearing—now sees the senator in a positive light, praising his nomination to lead DHS. But on the topic of immigration and border enforcement, Mullin took positions that were directly contradicted by publicly available evidence or were deeply insensitive to the families of the ICE victims. He has never recanted or walked them back, according to a review of the public record.

Mullin’s office did not respond to specific questions about his past comments.

Mullin’s past statements belie his new bipartisan tone

MULLIN’S APPROACH to his upcoming nomination hearings will signal how both he and the Trump administration view the current politics of immigration. Last week, the senator said all of the right things when asked if he would meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has described DHS as being so far gone with “rot” that changing out the head may not meaningfully change the department’s culture.

“I want people to understand . . . when I go into this position, yes, I’m a Republican, yes I’m conservative, but . . . regardless of if you support me or don’t support me, regardless of what your thoughts are . . . my focus is to keep the homeland secure,” Mullin told reporters. “If Mr. Schumer wants to sit down and talk to me, I’m going to sit down and talk with him. I want to try to earn their support, and I’m going to be open and honest with them.”