Overview
- The Senate approved Mullin in a 54–45 vote on Monday, and he has since taken the oath of office to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
- Mullin says he will carry out President Trump’s hard‑line migration agenda but he signaled limits, including making ICE entries into homes or businesses without a judge’s warrant the rare exception.
- He inherits a partial DHS shutdown that has left Transportation Security Administration staff working without pay and produced long lines at airport security checkpoints.
- The White House has sent ICE officers to more than a dozen airports to manage crowds, a step critics cast as leverage in budget talks as Trump also presses for the SAVE Act that would require proof of citizenship to vote.
- Mullin faces questions about experience and temperament, with Senator Rand Paul citing “anger issues,” as he takes over a $115 billion department that runs ICE, Customs and Border Protection, TSA, and FEMA.