Trump's new DHS nominee promises some changes, adequate staffing amid shutdown-induced departures

The Homeland Security Department is set to introduce some significant shifts to its operations, President Trump’s nominee to lead the agency said on Wednesday, including by renewing efforts to boost staffing in places it had previously implemented cuts. 

Such hiring efforts will be delayed by the current DHS shutdown, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said at his confirmation hearing to replace Kristi Noem as the department’s secretary. Mullin expressed concern that DHS employees are exiting the department as they seek new jobs that are not subject to withheld pay during funding lapses, but suggested he would backfill those as soon as he is able. 

Mullin’s testimony got off to a rocky start as Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., repeatedly chastised Mullin for comments the secretary-designate had made seeming to condone an attack on Paul that left the senator severely injured. Paul questioned the example Mullin was setting for DHS employees, particularly law enforcement personnel who are already facing widespread allegations of excessive force, but Mullin refused to apologize or retract his remarks. 

“We just don't get along,” Mullin said. “However, sir, that doesn't keep me at all from doing my job. I can have different opinions with everybody in this room, but as secretary of homeland, I'll be protecting everybody.” 

Paul indicated that he would not support Mullin’s nomination, but no other Republican raised an objection to his candidacy. If Paul votes against Mullin, he would need the support of at least one Democrat to advance out of committee. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., expressed an openness to doing so during Wednesday’s hearing. 

Mullin highlighted several ways he would depart from the approach Noem has taken in her embattled tenure as DHS leader. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be restructured but not eliminated, as Noem called for last year. He also vowed to end the controversial policy Noem instituted that required secretarial approval for any spending of more than $100,000. Detractors of the policy noted it bogged down critical funding efforts, including during disaster response. 

“I'm not a micro manager,” Mullin said. “We put people in, we empower them to make decisions.”

Noem has faced criticism for allegedly interfering with ongoing investigations by the DHS inspector general. Mullin vowed not to stand in the way of the IG’s work. He also said any retaliation against employees who signed onto a letter disclosing allegations that changes and cuts at FEMA would prevent the agency from carrying out its mission would be illegal whistleblower retaliation. DHS placed many of those employees on leave following the letter’s publication. 

Mullin was among the lawmakers who echoed Trump administration officials—including Noem—in disparaging Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs Department nurse, after DHS personnel fatally shot him in January. On Wednesday, Mullin said he “retracted” his comments calling Pretti a “deranged individual.” 

“Sometimes I’m going to make a mistake, and I own it,” Mullin said. “That one, I went out there too fast. I was responding immediately without the facts. That's my fault. That won't happen as secretary.” 

As the single-agency shutdown at DHS has entered its second month, Mullin sought to sound the alarm on the impacts it is having on the agency he is looking to lead. Democrats are still seeking reforms to Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown—and have pushed for immediate funding for DHS’ non-immigration components as negotiations continue—and Mullin said the fallout of the funding lapse is compounding as employees head for the exits. He declined to spell out any changes he would implement to DHS policies to meet Democratic demands.

“We're losing institutional knowledge,” Mullin said. “We're losing people we've already trained.”

DHS did not respond to an inquiry seeking details on the losses. While he pledged to backfill those roles, Mullin noted it would take four months to get employees onboarded and trained. With the upcoming World Cup and other events on the horizon, Mullin said, the department is running short on time. 

“Sometimes when you have to rush like this—especially trying to get people on the job, because we just quit funding them for the third time in less than a year and we expect these people to keep working—it puts the mission at risk,” Mullin said. 

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., asked Mullin if the 2,400 workforce cuts that FEMA has sustained under Trump so far would also impact the agency’s mission. The secretary-designate said only that he would ensure FEMA is properly staffed once DHS recovers from the shutdown. 

“I can't answer that,” Mullin said. “When I get there, we’ll be adequately staffed to respond to our nation's disasters. It’ll take some time to get there because, like I said, people are quitting today because they're not getting paid for the third time in a year.” 

Paul said he would likely schedule a committee vote for Mullin on Thursday. Mullin said his goal is to empower DHS employees to do their job without placing the department in headlines as often as it has over the last 14 months. 

“I want to bring confidence back to the agency,” Mullin said. “I'm not going to be the smartest guy in any room I walk into, but I know how to get talent, and I know how to bring those people together.”