The US Senate confirms Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security chief as scrutiny grows over Trump’s immigration crackdown and its public support wanes.
WASHINGTON: The US Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee for Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, by a vote of 54-45. His confirmation heralds a leadership shift as public support for Trump’s immigration crackdown has fallen.
Mullin, a businessman and former mixed-martial arts fighter, backs Trump’s hardline immigration views. He signalled during his confirmation hearing that he would dial back some aggressive policies, including a directive allowing officers to forcibly enter private properties without warrants.
The new leadership offers the Trump administration a chance to pivot from outgoing secretary Kristi Noem. Noem, a former South Dakota governor, was at the forefront of Trump’s mass deportation effort.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers sharply criticised Noem at congressional hearings in early March. They took issue with her remarks painting two US citizens fatally shot by immigration officers in Minneapolis as perpetrators of “domestic terrorism”.
Video evidence later undercut those claims. Noem also faced scrutiny over a USD 220 million ad campaign awarded to Republican-connected firms without a standard bidding process.
Trump fired Noem after the hearings, saying she would depart by March 31. She will become a special envoy to a new “Shield of the Americas” initiative.
During Mullin’s confirmation hearing, Senator Rand Paul slammed him for a history of violent rhetoric. This included remarks condoning a 2017 attack on Paul that left him with broken ribs and a damaged lung.
While Paul opposed the nomination, Democratic Senator John Fetterman provided the backing that permitted Mullin to advance to a Senate vote. Democrats have blocked funding for the 260,000-person Department of Homeland Security since mid-February.
They are pushing to scale back Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics. Airport security screeners who have missed paychecks have increasingly been calling out sick.
This has led to longer lines in US airports. Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected a Democratic bill to pay Transportation Security Administration workers during negotiations.
The Trump administration began deploying federal immigration officers at airports on Monday to help with screening. The impact of this move remained unclear.
Public backing for Trump’s immigration policies has diminished in recent months. This followed masked federal agents surging to US cities to search for possible immigration offenders.
The administration has signalled it could try to shift its message on the issue. White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair told Republican lawmakers they should stop focusing on mass deportations.
He advised them to instead highlight arrests of people with criminal records, Axios reported. The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has told his inner circle some mass deportation policies went too far.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda would not change. “President Trump’s highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities,” she said.