Department of Homeland Security officials are looking for ways to get rid of a deputy ousted by former Secretary Kristi Noem and then brought back into the fold by her successor—only to continue ruffling feathers at the department.
Troy Edgar was sworn in as Noem’s deputy secretary in March 2025 but was placed on administrative leave after their working relationship deteriorated late last year.
Noem, however, was fired a few months later following a series of scandals, and President Donald Trump’s new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin brought back Edgar in April to fill his old role, which is the number two position at DHS.
Now, several exasperated administration officials have told Politico that rehiring Edgar was a mistake.
Current and former agency officials said he has brought back some of the same toxic practices that plagued Noem’s tenure, including unnecessary micromanaging and interfering in areas that he’s ignorant of, Politico reported.
One official said he has meddled in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations despite having a limited understanding of the deportation process, including immigration courts and appeals.
The officials also said he told TSA how to deploy its staff instead of deferring to agency leadership.
“He has few friends and supporters in the DHS,” another official said.
Some officials hope that Edgar will be replaced by Brian Cavanaugh, who has been nominated to serve as undersecretary for management. Once the Senate confirms him, he could be moved into Edgar’s role, the officials told Politico.
Mullin, however, told the outlet in a statement that Edgar was a “key part” of his DHS team.
“I have the utmost trust and respect in Troy,” he said. “These unfounded stories and attempts to divide and distract our mission will fail.”
The Daily Beast has also reached out to DHS for comment.
Mullin has been tasked with rehabilitating DHS’s image following public outcry over the department’s violent immigration raids under Noem, which resulted in the killings of American citizens Nicole Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and concerns about financial mismanagement.
He invited many of the former secretary’s critics to return to the department, pushed her allies out the door, and reversed some of her more controversial policies, including one that required the secretary to personally sign off on every purchase above $100,000.
The department, however, sparked renewed outrage this month after immigration agents killed two people in less than a week during enforcement operations aimed at filling deportation quotas.
Federal agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican homebuilder and father of three U.S. citizens, in Houston on July 7. Six days later, agents shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian man, in front of his 3-year-old daughter in Biddeford, Maine.
Neither man was the target of the operation that ultimately killed them.
