Border czar Tom Homan is reportedly cultivating a relationship with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) after President Donald Trump tapped him as the new Department of Homeland Security Secretary.
The border czar appears eager to establish a working rapport with the incoming DHS chief after a contentious relationship with Kristi Noem, whom Mullin is replacing.
From Politico:
Tensions between border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ran so high over the last year that they barely spoke. Homan is determined to avoid a repeat.
Homan is making a concerted effort to quickly build a relationship with Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Noem at the Department of Homeland Security, according to three people close to the administration who are familiar with the efforts. The border czar has already introduced Mullin to key Trump allies, as well as players in the immigration policy space, as the senator gears up to take the reins at the sprawling government agency responsible for some of the president’s top policy priorities.
It’s a way for Homan, a 40-year veteran of immigration enforcement, to exert his influence and serve as an adviser to the White House and DHS, hovering between both worlds. It’s how Homan allies hoped his border czar role would work when Trump returned to office, but his toxic relationship with Noem — and her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski — froze him out of key decisions, fueling a disjointed enforcement effort.
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When Noem was in charge of the agency, she and Homan reportedly clashed on how the White House should handle President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Homan and Noem had vastly different ideas about how to approach the president’s immigration enforcement agenda. Homan — an immigration hardliner and the architect of the Trump administration’s 2018 family separation policy — took issue with Noem’s flashy approach across U.S. cities, which resulted in clashes with community members and protesters, ultimately doing little to significantly advance the administration’s deportation goals.
Though Homan maintained relationships inside the White House, the border czar was often sidelined in top-level DHS discussions about the administration’s interior enforcement strategy. That shifted last month after federal agents in Minneapolis killed two U.S. citizens, causing a swift political backlash against Trump’s immigration agenda. The president removed Noem, and her ally, then-Border Patrol commander at-large Gregory Bovino, and deployed Homan to Minneapolis to work with local officials and ease tensions.
President Trump taps former MMA fighter Markwayne Mullin to run DHS after Noem’s removal. Democrats like Schumer complain while blocking DHS. Even Fetterman backs him.
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) March 6, 2026
Mullin: “My focus is to keep the HOMELAND SECURE.”pic.twitter.com/kUfbv8O9eJ
Mark Morgan, who headed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Trump’s first term, told Politico that Homan will “be able to actually carry out the role of the border czar that it was originally intended to do, that Kristi and Corey [Lewandowski] literally cut him off from doing.”
He further noted that Mullin would “utilize Tom in the role that the border czar was designed for and to seek his guidance, to seek his knowledge, to see his expertise.”
A previous Politico report detailed the power struggle between Noem and Homan.
Trump announced on March 5 that Noem would be stepping down and that he would nominate Mullin as her replacement. The nominee’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is set to begin on Wednesday.
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