Washington– Washington (AFP) – Markwayne MullenPresident Donald Trump’s pick for Homeland Security secretary will appear before senators on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing and will face questions about his vision for an administration charged with carrying out the Republican administration’s push for mass deportations.
Mullen, a senator from Oklahoma, spent 13 years in Congress and emerged as a close ally of the president. If confirmed, he will replace the outgoing minister Kristi NoemWho was he? Launched earlier this month Amid growing criticism of her leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.
The hearing will be the first opportunity for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from Mullen about how he intends to run the Cabinet’s third-largest department. The sprawling division, with a workforce of approximately 260,000 employees, oversees a variety of responsibilities ranging from Protect the president From a bullet to helping countries recover from disasters to – Deporting people who are in the country illegally.
Mullen is Former mixed martial arts fighter who ran a plumbing company in Oklahoma before running for Congress. He has signaled his support for immigration operations in the past, and is expected to be a loyal ally of Trump’s agenda if confirmed to the top job at the Department of Homeland Security.
“Whether it is protecting the homeland from bad actors, preventing the flow of dangerous drugs into American communities, or removing the worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullen will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda,” White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said in an email statement on Tuesday.
The President’s Immigration Agenda How Mullen intends to implement it is expected to be a major line of questioning as Democrats dig deeper into Mullen’s views. The hearing comes The President’s Mass Deportation Agenda The situation is now at a crossroads, and Mullen will face pressure to achieve the president’s lofty deportation goals when the public mood is soured by the aggressive manner in which immigration enforcement operations are being conducted.
Anger over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics has prompted Democrats to do so DHS funding denied Until it makes a series of changes to the behavior of its officers.
In an opening statement issued before the hearing, Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Democrats are demanding “direct” reforms in line with the rules police departments follow. Peters stressed the challenges the Department of Homeland Security faces, from threats from Iran to criminal hackers, and said the department needs someone with a “steady hand.” But Peters said he had “reservations” about whether Mullen was prepared to take on such an important role.
As newer Partial government shutdown As the matter continues, there have been long security lines at a growing number of US airports, as security monitors go another month without pay. Republicans have repeatedly accused Democrats of risking the country’s national security by blocking funding for the department.
Under Noem, massive enforcement operations have been launched in places including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, where immigrants have been rounded up in roundups and protesters have clashed with federal officers.
Activists and politicians accused DHS officers of smashing car windows, treating passersby who tried to record their activities and… Immigrants are detained in appalling conditions. Two demonstrators were shot dead – Rene is good and Alex Pretty In Minneapolis – contributed to the exacerbation of criticism of Trump’s immigration agenda.
The Department of Homeland Security said its officers only respond with force when necessary, and blamed activists and politicians, who they say are ramping up rhetoric against their officers.
Mullen is also likely to face questions about the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is in the middle of a turbulent overhaul after Trump said he wanted one. Fix it, if not eliminate it.
Noem led the Trump-appointed FEMA review board Appointed to recommend comprehensive changes How the federal government helps states, tribes, and territories prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. The reforms had the potential to significantly reduce federal disaster support and place more responsibility on local jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, under Noem, all contracts worth more than $100,000 had to wait for approval. That led to long delays for states desperate to repay money they had already spent on things like storm debris removal.
After two acting officials He left FEMA during Noem’s tenureThe agency still has no permanent head.
Trump said he appointed Noem as special envoy for a new security initiative that will focus on the Western Hemisphere. Noem thanked Trump for her appointment and praised her accomplishments as secretary, saying she had achieved “historic accomplishments” at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe.
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Associated Press writer Gabriela Aoun Angera contributed.