How Markwayne Mullin would lead DHS differently than Kristi Noem
Same show, different day.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) promised to make a number of changes in how Department of Homeland Security agencies operate if confirmed as secretary, assuring lawmakers during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he would calm the controversies that surrounded the DHS under his predecessor.
Mullin tried to appeal to his Republican and Democratic colleagues during his Senate confirmation hearing with repeated vows to address the federal government’s immigration enforcement and natural disaster response following a brutal year of press under outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem.
“My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day,” Mullin, 48, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “My goal is for people to understand we’re out there. We’re protecting them, and we’re working with them. My goal is to make every one of you guys proud.”
DHS agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, topped Mullin’s list of agencies that need immediate attention.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in Washington on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Right: Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner; Top left: A Federal Emergency Management Agency sign outside a government building. (Associated Press); Bottom left: A federal law enforcement officer stands with a hand on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vest (Associated Press).
Free up FEMA
Mullin said he would rescind Noem’s unprecedented requirement that she and special government employee Corey Lewandowski personally review and approve all DHS contracts exceeding $100,000. That move in and of itself has held up billions of dollars’ worth of contracts across the department’s nearly two dozen agencies, crippling the agencies as they try to implement the Trump administration’s agenda.
“That’s called micromanaging,” Mullin said. “I’m not a micromanager.”
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) noted that DHS has operated for nearly 14 months under Noem’s instruction “to eliminate FEMA,” which she later clarified as having meant that she intended to “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today.” Noem made little progress overhauling FEMA during that time, but she did significantly cut staff at FEMA, hurting the agency’s ability to respond to disasters nationwide.
“I think it needs to be restructured, not eliminated,” Mullin said. “I think there is going to be bipartisan …
Same show, different day.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) promised to make a number of changes in how Department of Homeland Security agencies operate if confirmed as secretary, assuring lawmakers during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he would calm the controversies that surrounded the DHS under his predecessor.
Mullin tried to appeal to his Republican and Democratic colleagues during his Senate confirmation hearing with repeated vows to address the federal government’s immigration enforcement and natural disaster response following a brutal year of press under outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem.
“My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day,” Mullin, 48, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “My goal is for people to understand we’re out there. We’re protecting them, and we’re working with them. My goal is to make every one of you guys proud.”
DHS agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, topped Mullin’s list of agencies that need immediate attention.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in Washington on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Right: Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner; Top left: A Federal Emergency Management Agency sign outside a government building. (Associated Press); Bottom left: A federal law enforcement officer stands with a hand on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vest (Associated Press).
Free up FEMA
Mullin said he would rescind Noem’s unprecedented requirement that she and special government employee Corey Lewandowski personally review and approve all DHS contracts exceeding $100,000. That move in and of itself has held up billions of dollars’ worth of contracts across the department’s nearly two dozen agencies, crippling the agencies as they try to implement the Trump administration’s agenda.
“That’s called micromanaging,” Mullin said. “I’m not a micromanager.”
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) noted that DHS has operated for nearly 14 months under Noem’s instruction “to eliminate FEMA,” which she later clarified as having meant that she intended to “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today.” Noem made little progress overhauling FEMA during that time, but she did significantly cut staff at FEMA, hurting the agency’s ability to respond to disasters nationwide.
“I think it needs to be restructured, not eliminated,” Mullin said. “I think there is going to be bipartisan …
How Markwayne Mullin would lead DHS differently than Kristi Noem
Same show, different day.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) promised to make a number of changes in how Department of Homeland Security agencies operate if confirmed as secretary, assuring lawmakers during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he would calm the controversies that surrounded the DHS under his predecessor.
Mullin tried to appeal to his Republican and Democratic colleagues during his Senate confirmation hearing with repeated vows to address the federal government’s immigration enforcement and natural disaster response following a brutal year of press under outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem.
“My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day,” Mullin, 48, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “My goal is for people to understand we’re out there. We’re protecting them, and we’re working with them. My goal is to make every one of you guys proud.”
DHS agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, topped Mullin’s list of agencies that need immediate attention.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in Washington on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Right: Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner; Top left: A Federal Emergency Management Agency sign outside a government building. (Associated Press); Bottom left: A federal law enforcement officer stands with a hand on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vest (Associated Press).
Free up FEMA
Mullin said he would rescind Noem’s unprecedented requirement that she and special government employee Corey Lewandowski personally review and approve all DHS contracts exceeding $100,000. That move in and of itself has held up billions of dollars’ worth of contracts across the department’s nearly two dozen agencies, crippling the agencies as they try to implement the Trump administration’s agenda.
“That’s called micromanaging,” Mullin said. “I’m not a micromanager.”
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) noted that DHS has operated for nearly 14 months under Noem’s instruction “to eliminate FEMA,” which she later clarified as having meant that she intended to “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today.” Noem made little progress overhauling FEMA during that time, but she did significantly cut staff at FEMA, hurting the agency’s ability to respond to disasters nationwide.
“I think it needs to be restructured, not eliminated,” Mullin said. “I think there is going to be bipartisan …
