Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Tuesday that immigration enforcement will not change one bit after Republicans lost both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, telling Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" that DHS is deporting roughly 3,600 people a day and has no intention of slowing down.
Host Laura Ingraham raised President Donald Trump's suggestion that Republicans work with Democrats following the losses. Mullin's answer was blunt: "zero change," according to Fox News.
"We haven't slowed down at all. We've re-prioritize what we're doing by going after the worst of the worst, by getting the murderers and the rapists and child predators and drug bankers and cartel members," Mullin said.
The secretary made clear he does not believe House and Senate Democrats can be trusted as partners in any immigration deal.
"You can't trust the Democrat Party we've been working with at all. You can't, because nothing's enough for them."
Mullin pointed to the Democratic Socialists of America as the force now driving the party, claiming the group wants to defund his department entirely.
"You got DSA that's running the Democrat Party right now. They want to defund my agency, the Department of Homeland Security," he said. "You want to defund the country that is the agency that's tasked with keeping our homeland safe? Doesn't make any sense."
As for Democratic legislation arriving on the president's desk, Mullin said the White House is ready. "The president has made it very clear he controls the veto. So if they were to send something over that the president and the Republicans don't agree with, he can veto it, and he will veto it," he said.
He closed with the administration's core argument: "You can't have a secured nation and you can't have a secured city if you don't know who's in your country."
Pushback From All Sides
Mullin's comments came as Republicans returned to Washington venting anger and frustration after losing both chambers, according to reporting from other outlets, with internal debate over spending, messaging and the 2028 cycle.
Bill O'Reilly blasted Mullin over the midterm losses and immigration policy, per reporting from another outlet.
Meanwhile, the administration's response to the drubbing has been to double down. Stephen Miller, the architect of the immigration crackdown, is now White House chief of staff, with officials telling other outlets his power is only going to grow. CNN's political analysis described the Republican remedy for the midterm rebuke as more Trumpism, not less.
Democrats are set to take control of both chambers in January, which would give them the power to pass immigration bills and hold DHS oversight hearings. The veto pen in Trump's hands remains the wall those bills run into.
Our Take
Before the votes were even counted, the usual RINO chorus was warming up the retreat. The Washington establishment wants you to believe a midterm loss means conservatives should lower their flags, soften the language and meet the new Democratic majority halfway. Markwayne Mullin just told them to pound sand, and he's right.
The mandate for border security did not expire on Election Day. The American people elected Donald Trump twice on the promise that the invasion would end. Deporting 3,600 people a day is not cruelty. It is the federal government finally doing the one job it exists to do: protect the homeland. Any Republican who reads a midterm shellacking as a reason to stop enforcing the law is reading the wrong book.
And spare us the lectures from the DSA crowd about "defunding" DHS. These are the same people who want open borders, sanctuary cities and a welfare state with no citizens to fund it. They are not negotiating a compromise. They are demanding surrender.
Democrats can send the White House whatever bill they want in January. The Constitution gave the president a veto for exactly this reason. The only question now is whether Republicans in Washington will stand with Mullin and the president, or whether they'll shrink the moment the pressure comes.
Patriots, call your representatives. Tell them the answer is zero change.
