Donald Trump’s border czar acknowledged that the president’s new pick to head the Department of Homeland Security has no background in immigration enforcement.
Tom Homan, whom Trump, 79, picked to take the reins after former DHS secretary Kristi Noem’s disastrous ICE operation in Minnesota, appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to talk about Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin.
“One of the questions for him was ‘How will you be different from Kristi Noem,’” host Martha McCallum asked Homan, 64. “What would your answer be to that, knowing both of them?”
“I can’t put down what the difference is,” Homan replied. “I can tell you that he’s focused on the mission. He has spoken to leadership within the DHS already. He’s heard their ideas. He’s got to speak to a few more, but he’s hearing what they think the issues are.”
“He’s counting on the experts who have done this job for decades to advise him on the next steps to take,” he added. “And that’s big. He don’t know the immigration game very well, but he’s counting on people with 30, 40 years of experience to guide him.”
Notably, within DHS is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency that has come under fire for its aggressive enforcement tactics orchestrated by Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
In January, two American citizens—mother of three Renee Good, 37, and VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37— were fatally shot by federal agents during the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis, leading to the unceremonious end of “Operation Metro Surge.”
Mullin, 48, was brought under the microscope during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday as he seeks the Cabinet position formerly held by Noem.
In a heated moment, the Republican senator refused to apologize to his party colleague and the confirmation committee’s chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, after he had previously said he “understood” why the Kentucky lawmaker was assaulted from behind by his neighbor in 2017.
Mullin, who often bounces a pink bouncy ball through the halls of the Capitol, also confused his fellow lawmakers when a line of questioning was raised about his “smelling war” comments.
“War is ugly. It smells bad,” Mullin said on Fox News earlier this month. “If anybody has ever been there and been able to smell the war that’s happening around you, and taste it, and feel it in your nostrils and hear it, it’s something you will never forget.”
When asked about his travel by Sen. Gary Peters, the former MMA fighter denied having visited a foreign country for anything other than a family vacation. However, Peters noted that Mullin was listed as having done “special assignments” outside of the Defense Department.
The former plumber corrected his statement, saying that he had gone on a “classified” trip to train “with a very small contingency” around 2015 or 2016 while he was a congressman.
Reached for comment, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “President Trump has ended Biden’s border crisis and deported countless dangerous criminal illegal aliens. Senator Mullin is perfectly suited to lead the Department of Homeland Security and work closely with President Trump to continue building on his many successes. Whether it be protecting the homeland from bad actors, stopping dangerous drugs from flowing into American communities, or removing the worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullin will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to DHS for comment.
