This Is What Markwayne Mullin Has Been Up to Since Taking Over DHS

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is moving quickly in his first few days on the job after President Donald Trump removed Kristi Noem from the position.

Mullin is reshaping how the department spends money and houses illegal immigrants while reversing several of Noem’s controversial policies.

Mullin scrapped a Noem-era rule requiring the DHS secretary to personally approve any contract or grant worth more than $100,000, according to CBS News. The original policy required that the department head sign off on thousands of routine procurement decisions that were usually handled by other officials. Critics said the policy created “extraordinary bureaucratic gridlock” and a “significant operational challenge,” Politico reported. It delayed over 1,000 FEMA contracts, grants, and disaster assistance awards.

Changes & potential changes noted here — such as requirements for judicial warrants & a pause on installing mega warehouses for migrant detention — provide some hope that Mullin may actually make substantive changes to how Noem ran DHS and ICE. We'll see. https://t.co/PMr28hFpRn
— Jassa Skott (@JassaSkott) April 4, 2026

Mullin’s new policy requires approval from the DHS deputy secretary for contracts exceeding $25 million. “Today, the Secretary rescinded the $100,000 contract review memo. This will streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission to protect the homeland and make America safe again,” DHS said in a statement.

The new secretary also stopped a plan to convert warehouses across the country into immigrant detention facilities while his team reviews it. This comes amid pushback from local leaders and some GOP lawmakers who support the White House’s immigration enforcement efforts, but worry that it might place an excessive burden on local infrastructure and communities.

BREAKING: DHS, now led by Secretary Markwayne Mullin has officially reversed an unpopular policy put in place by Kristi Noem that required the secretary to personally approve contracts and grants worth more than $100,000.

With @CBSNews @camiloreports https://t.co/HyoNIaChuS
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) April 1, 2026

However, the broader mission to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants remains largely untouched. CNN reported that Mullin is considering other rule changes to how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates as the battle over DHS funding inches closer to its 50th day.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are still arguing over whether to include ICE reforms in the funding bill. GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Democratic Rep. Thomas Suozzi (NY-03) introduced a bipartisan measure that would require ICE and Border Patrol agents to remove their masks while conducting operations. It would also mandate that they obtain judicial warrants before making criminal arrests.

Fitzpatrick told CNN, that ICE needs “to approach the job with empathy” and that “these are human beings, regardless of how you view immigration, we always need to treat human beings like human beings.”

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