'Knight in shining armor' Mullin begins to right Noem's wrongs at DHS

EXCLUSIVE -- Before Kristi Noem was even out the door, her more than 10 framed glamour shots hanging on the walls of one of her Washington offices were being taken down by staff. Department of Homeland Security employees at one agency were eager, even tearful, about the future. Her replacement, former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, is quickly finding his way into his new role atop the nation's third-largest federal department and its more than a quarter of a million employees. Within 24 hours of being sworn in at the White House surrounded by family on Wednesday, Mullin had rolled up his sleeves and begun undoing the unprecedented regulations that Noem and her cohort, Corey Lewandowski, had imposed across the department. "He has the opportunity to be like a prince or knight in shining armor as he comes riding over the hill and saves everybody from this freaking chaos," a senior official within DHS said in a phone call Wednesday evening. "All he has to do, literally, is put things back in a normal order." Mullin's biggest to-dos are expected to center on letting agencies fill vacancies that they have carried since January 2025 due to Noem's refusal to allow agency leaders to approve promotions within their agencies. All managerial and senior promotions had to be approved by Noem and Lewandowski, in what three officials speculated was a move to ensure those who moved up the ladder were people they could influence and benefit from having in those roles. Mullin is expected to lift Noem's self-imposed review of all department contracts valued at more than $100,000. As of early March, more than 1,000 contracts were awaiting Noem's approval, according to The Hill. Mullin will also face congressional Democrats' wrath as lawmakers on Capitol Hill have already begun to investigate DHS for the massive contracts to individuals and companies that were inexperienced, had connections to Noem's staff, or contained other irregularities. But as Noem came under more criticism for the more than $200 million contract DHS paid for advertising to an organization that was less than two weeks old, DHS announced plans to erect nearly 500 miles of border wall in a part of the U.S.-Mexico border that Border Patrol itself recommended technology, not a wall, be used to secure.