Trump swears in Markwayne Mullin as homeland security secretary

Former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin was sworn in as the ninth secretary of homeland security on Tuesday, replacing Kristi Noem.

“With Secretary Mullin at DHS, we will continue our record-setting efforts to deport these illegal alien criminals from our country, and we are doing it at record levels, despite a very unfair court system,” President Donald Trump said.

Mullin, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 54-45 vote on Monday night, steps into the role amid a weekslong funding lapse for the agency as lawmakers on Capitol Hill battle over the administration’s immigration operations.

Negotiations over funding the agency appear to be picking up steam on Capitol Hill, with a deal to fund most of the department except Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation operations being floated.

The immigration enforcement agency’s deportation operations might instead be funded in a party-line budget process known as reconciliation. Republicans are also weighing pairing that