SerpApi.Org
ICE Barbie’s Homeland Security placement is already annoying people at the department just weeks into his new role.
Markwayne Mullin, the former plumber, was parachuted in to save the day after Kristi Noem’s bumbling tenure came to an abrupt close. However, despite having only taken the reins in late March, he has already provided enough fodder to create friction with the White House, according to NBC News.
A senior Trump administration official and a senior Department of Homeland Security official told the outlet that his missteps have gone right to the top, forcing President Donald Trump to step in.
This particular mini saga started last Tuesday when the Department of Homeland Security informed federal immigration officers that there would be a temporary halt to the practice of stopping people in their vehicles after ICE agents shot and killed two unarmed people within the space of a few days.
However, the 80-year-old president announced on Truth Social on Wednesday that “we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
The administration insider admitted that Mullin messed up, signing off on the plan without a green light from the White House. It was “100 percent” a bad move, they said.
“Every Cabinet secretary knows that they have to come to the White House for major policy decisions,” the administration official said. “The president sees, hears, reads everything.”
That wasn’t the only mistake by the 48-year-old former Oklahoma senator. In a CNN interview last month, he fumbled his words regarding a Supreme Court ruling on immigrants from Haiti and Syria, creating confusion.
He said that around 350,000 immigrants from these countries could be eligible to apply for legal status. The problem was they weren’t. This annoyed some in the administration, the DHS official told NBC News.
“When you start talking about the president and I, the president and I are very close,” Mullin said at a press conference on Friday. “I was texting with him this morning.”
Mullin came into the role to calm the storm after Noem was ousted following ICE’s heavy-handed immigration tactics resulting in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Concern grew after he tapped ally Lance Schroyer, an incident commander with the Highway Patrol in Oklahoma, to run what was supposed to be a new-look ICE. He is awaiting confirmation. Schroyer, currently an adviser to Mullin, lacks experience with federal law enforcement or immigration enforcement.
There is also chatter at the agency about his lack of knowledge regarding what could be his patch, the officials said. White House border czar Tom Homan is particularly perturbed by his possible ascension, they added.
Despite the early-onset tumult, there are no immediate plans to nix Mullin, the officials said.
“Secretary Mullin is working hard to implement the President’s immigration enforcement agenda,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Mullin, the border is totally secure, dangerous illegal immigrants are being deported, and Americans are safer. Secretary Mullin will continue to enforce federal immigration law as effectively as possible.”
MAGA influencer and self-styled citizen journalist Nick Sortor blasted the change in ICE policy as a “TOTAL CAPITULATION to the left” and “WEAK” in an X post.
Laura Loomer, the Islamophobic far-right influencer and Trump’s “loyalty enforcer,” simply wrote, “Deport Markwayne Muslim!”
Meanwhile, MAGA troll and failed congressional candidate Robby Starbuck declared, “If @SecMullinDHS isn’t up for the job, then he should do the honorable thing and resign.”
“Weakness is an invitation for chaos. Weakness is an invitation for chaos,” Starbuck wrote. “Now more than ever, you must be strong.”
The White House and DHS have been contacted for comment.
