Markwayne Mullin
Mullin has aimed DHS at the November midterms: announcing 200-plus noncitizen-voting arrests, vetting nearly 100 million voter records, and defending ICE agents who shot Oscar Belgal in New York.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is aiming his department squarely at the November 3 midterms. His agency has run nearly 100 million voter records through Palantir software, probed more than 150 nonprofits, and announced 200-plus arrests and indictments for noncitizen voting, with 1,620 fraud investigations open and 300,000 more records under review. He claims the sweep has surfaced more than 250,000 potential noncitizen registrations across California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Nevada; Nevada officials checked all 185 names forwarded to them and found every one a lawful citizen. Vice President Kamala Harris calls the purges cheating and voter suppression.
Mullin has confirmed federal agents could still appear at polling places to serve warrants or respond to threats, days after his own department said it has no operations targeting voting locations, a gap Michigan is now war-gaming. His CISA office released a 13-page election security plan just 40 days before the vote, past the mid-August date he promised, and he warns that voting equipment with Chinese and Russian components is compromised. A federal judge blocked his rule tying counterterrorism grants to election changes, ruling FEMA lacked authority to withhold up to $2 billion a year.
On enforcement, Mullin backed the ICE agents who shot Oscar Belgal in New York, called the Dominican national a thug who endangered his own child, and blamed the sanctuary policies of Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He denies any pause on non-criminal arrests, faults sanctuary politicians for a reported 1,649 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers, and has signaled internally that he wants ICE out of the headlines while enforcement backlash shapes key races.
He is stumping for Trump too, telling an October 1 rally in Oklahoma that the presidency has cost Trump financially, though Forbes data puts Trump's net worth at $7 billion, and defending a possible livestream of Nidal Hasan's firing-squad execution.
On their plate
Mullin announced a federal crackdown with 200-plus arrests and indictments, 1,620 active fraud investigations and 300,000 more records under review, calling noncitizen voting "very real and a serious threat to our country." His department has vetted nearly 100 million voter records using Palantir software and probed more than 150 nonprofits, and he claims the sweep identified over 250,000 potential noncitizen registrations in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Nevada. Nevada officials vetted all 185 names forwarded to them and found each a lawful citizen, and Mullin says some states "probably even knew about" noncitizen voting and chose not to look.
Mullin confirmed federal agents could still show up at polling places on Election Day to serve warrants or respond to specific threats, days after his department said it has no operations targeting voting locations, a gap states such as Michigan are now war-gaming. His CISA office released a 13-page election security plan just 40 days before the midterms, past the mid-August date he had promised, drawing criticism from Democratic secretaries of state in Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Maine and Michigan who call it too late to matter. He is also warning that voting equipment containing components from China and Russia is compromised, adding his voice to the administration's election-integrity push.
Mullin defended his department's rule conditioning counterterrorism grants on election changes, including hand-marked paper ballots, 5 percent audits and citizenship checks. Judge Amir Ali blocked the withholding of up to $2 billion a year, ruling that FEMA lacked statutory authority. The ruling is a legal setback to Mullin's push for federal control of election administration.
Mullin defended the ICE agents who shot Oscar Belgal in New York, calling the Dominican national a thug who endangered his own child and blaming the sanctuary policies of Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani after a judge blocked Belgal's deportation. He insists there is no pause on non-criminal arrests, saying "no one is off the table," and blames sanctuary politicians for a reported 1,649 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers, with his department naming Governor Tim Walz and Representative Jasmine Crockett. He assured Senator Jerry Moran that Kansas ICE warrants target people charged with crimes, denied worksite operations there amid ranching-industry criticism, and has signaled internally that he wants ICE out of the headlines as enforcement backlash shapes midterm races.
Mullin told an October 1 rally in Durant, Oklahoma that serving as president has cost Trump financially, a claim Forbes data contradicts by putting Trump's net worth at $7 billion. He defended Trump's potential livestream of Nidal Hasan's firing-squad execution, arguing the punishment must fit the crime and rejecting claims it would create a martyr. He also condemned the prior administration after a watchdog found ICE under Biden shelved 96.7 percent of 3.1 million visa-overstay leads with only 496 investigations, calling it a "staggering and enraging" dereliction of duty.
Key relationships
Trump is Mullin's boss, and Mullin doubles as a campaign surrogate, defending the president's finances and his possible firing-squad livestream.
Mullin faults the New York City mayor alongside Hochul, citing 16,070 rejected ICE detainer requests tied to 52,503 criminal charges.
Mullin blames the New York governor's sanctuary policies for hamstringing ICE and says the agency enforces immigration law "with no help" from her.
The Kansas senator pressed Mullin to coordinate ICE operations with local law enforcement after unannounced sweeps, and Mullin assured him the warrants target people charged with crimes.
Edlow runs USCIS under Mullin but publicly softened a watchdog finding of 40 percent vetting errors in Afghan asylum files, even as Mullin condemned the Biden-era resettlement program as dangerously mismanaged.
Harris calls Mullin's voter-roll purges "cheating" and voter suppression; he presses the crackdown, calling noncitizen voting a serious threat to the country.
