Why it Matters

The House Homeland Security Committee's FY2027 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget review on last wekk put a newly confirmed DHS Secretary on the defensive from the opening gavel, as Democrats accused the Trump administration of running a "weaponized" department while Republicans charged that Democratic-led government shutdowns had gutted the agency's workforce. The Trump administration's $118.4 billion budget request, the largest in DHS history, arrived with ICE and CBP still technically unfunded from the prior fiscal year, a tension that hung over every exchange.

The Big Picture

The hearing was Markwayne Mullin's first appearance before the House since being confirmed as DHS Secretary in March 2026. He replaced Kristi Noem, whose tenure ended in controversy. Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-2) opened by noting DHS had been forced to operate through 119 days of government shutdowns over the past year, calling it "concerning" at a time of increasingly complex threats. The hearing arrived as Congress was already in the middle of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations fight, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) still unfunded under a partial deal passed in May. Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-MS-2) had already declared he would "not send another dime to CBP and ICE" in January, and arrived with that posture intact.

What They're Saying

Mullin, rather than delivering a prepared statement, fired back at Thompson's opening remarks.

  • Mullin, on Iran policy: "What's reckless is a nuclear Iran. For 49 years, not one single president was willing to stand up until President Trump."
  • Thompson, on detention conditions: "A record number of people are dying in Trump's detention centers at a rate roughly one person every six days."
  • Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL-3), on the department: "We need to abolish ICE and we need to dismantle DHS."

Rep. Lou Correa's (D-CA-46) asked whether his children would need to carry passports in public. Mullin responded by saying he was from "Indian country" and was familiar with having "a lot of brown people around there." Correa fired back, saying he wasn't "buying that," and later told reporters Mullin's comment was unacceptable.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10) pressed Mullin on whether he would follow court orders, noting that Mullin had refused to commit to that in a Senate hearing the day before. Mullin replied, "We enforce the law every single day," without directly answering whether court orders would be followed. Goldman said he found it "disappointing" that Mullin was unfamiliar with an extraordinary letter from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York accusing an ICE lawyer of concealing a memo from a federal judge.

Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, appearing alongside Mullin, offered a more measured tone on the DHS contract corruption allegations raised by Thompson. Edgar said the department had reviewed contracts with the Inspector General and stopped unsigned contracts from moving forward, but acknowledged that already-executed contracts could only be canceled if the IG found they were signed under false circumstances. He committed to providing the committee with a list of canceled contracts.

Political Stakes

Mullin willingness to engage combatively, including wishing aloud that members "had to get sworn in too," signaled he intends to fight rather than absorb. That posture may play well with the Republican base but risks deepening Democratic resistance to DHS funding at a moment when the department is still not fully appropriated. The administration's request for an additional $72 billion for ICE and CBP through reconciliation, on top of what was already allocated in the "One Big Beautiful Bill," faces an uphill climb if committee Democrats remain unified in opposition.

Yes, but:

Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL-28) agreed with Correa that ICE should exercise more discretion, saying, "To have six of the worst of the worst not being picked up, that needs to be rectified." Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX-11) proposed bipartisan legislation to enhance federal penalties for threatening or doxing federal agents, and both Goldman and Correa signaled openness to joining the effort if it included federal judges and elected officials. Mullin also committed, in response to Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), to restoring the full 72-day ICE training standard by July 1, reversing the prior administration's shortened 42-day curriculum.

The Bottom Line

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security is expected to move forward on FY2027 markups in the coming weeks. The Senate reconciliation package, which includes the additional ICE and CBP funding the administration is seeking, remains at an impasse. Mullin said reconciliation is "vitally important" to providing three years of continuous funding for human trafficking investigations, which he said are disrupted every time appropriations lapse. The committee is also expected to press for written responses on the Delaney Hall detention conditions and the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind refugee from Myanmar who died in February after being released by DHS at a closed coffee shop in Buffalo in freezing temperatures. Mullin acknowledged the case is under investigation and apologized for not responding to Rep. Timothy Kennedy's (D-NY-26) inquiry for over two months.

Mullin survived his first House hearing, but the depth of Democratic opposition to additional ICE and CBP funding, combined with unresolved questions about court order compliance and detention conditions, means the administration's record budget request faces a difficult path.

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