Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., praised President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to lead the Department of Homeland Security, saying he is widely respected on Capitol Hill and expected to win bipartisan support for confirmation.
Harris, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Newsmax that Mullin brings integrity and leadership that will help guide the agency following Trump’s decision to remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Everything I hear about Senator Mullin on Capitol Hill is he is respected,” Harris said during an appearance on "National Report."
He added that Mullin “has a reputation of strong integrity, honesty, and I think that he will have a swift confirmation, I hope, and I already believe that he's going to get Democrats that will cross the aisle and support his nomination.”
Trump announced Thursday that he was removing Noem from her post and nominating Mullin to replace her in one of the most significant Cabinet changes of his second term.
The shakeup followed mounting criticism of Noem’s leadership at DHS, including scrutiny from lawmakers over immigration enforcement policies and a costly national ad campaign encouraging illegal immigrants to leave the country voluntarily, which Trump said he did not approve.
Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma and former House member, was first elected to the Senate in 2022 after serving a decade in the House, and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
Harris expressed confidence that Mullin would provide steady leadership at the sprawling federal agency, which oversees border security, immigration enforcement and numerous national security responsibilities.
“And I think that there's no question that he is going to be a phenomenal leader,” Harris said.
The North Carolina congressman also defended Trump’s decision to replace Noem after about 13 months on the job, arguing that the president demonstrated decisive leadership in making a change when issues arose.
“I think the president again showed his incredible leadership and simply being able to make a decision,” Harris said. “He's decisive. He decided it was time for a change, and he put Senator Markwayne Mullin in that position.”
Harris thanked Noem for her work at DHS and noted the challenges she faced when she took over the agency.
“Well, obviously, I think we certainly appreciate the work that Kristi Noem has done in her time there as secretary of Homeland Security,” Harris said. “She walked into a situation, as we all know, was a very difficult situation, a very broad jurisdiction that the Department of Homeland Security carries when you really think about it.”
He said the department had taken significant steps toward securing the southern border and removing criminal illegal aliens during her tenure.
“And an incredible task of secure making sure we secured the southern border, making sure that we begin to move toward removing the criminal illegal aliens out of our country,” Harris said. “And she certainly has done that.”
Harris also pointed to what he described as large numbers of deportations and voluntary departures during the administration’s immigration enforcement push.
“Everybody wants to talk about that ad,” he said. “But it was a national campaign and folks don't need to get lost in the fact that over 2 million illegal aliens have been deported.
“I think over 600, almost 700,000 deported by ICE and Immigration services, but then 1.9 million self-deported in 2025 alone,” Harris added.
Still, Harris acknowledged that leadership concerns and conflicts with sanctuary jurisdictions contributed to the decision to make a change.
“But I also know that we have these sanctuary cities and sanctuary states that are not cooperating with the work that is trying to be done,” he said. “And of course, when those things happen, then as a leader, you've got to begin to bear responsibility for that.
“And I think the president recognized that maybe there's time for a leadership change,” Harris said. “He made it. He was decisive. And we're now moving forward.”
Mullin’s nomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation as the administration seeks to maintain its aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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