ICYMI Florida
Memos & Media Guidance
New DHS Secretary, Same Anti-Freedom Agenda: What to Know About Markwayne Mullin Ahead of Today’s Senate Hearing
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Reproductive Freedom for All
RE: New DHS Secretary, Same Anti-Freedom Agenda: What to Know About Markwayne Mullin Ahead of Today’s Senate Hearing
DATE: March 18, 2026
New DHS Secretary, Same Anti-Freedom Agenda: What to Know About Markwayne Mullin Ahead of Today’s Senate Hearing
Today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to confirm Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mullin will be replacing Kristi Noem—the first agency head to be ousted in Trump’s second presidency.
Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Swapping one terrible cabinet secretary for another won’t change the abuse we are seeing across the country by DHS. Mullin has made it clear he is willing to put Trump’s agenda over justice, fairness, and safety—and he has an abhorrent record on reproductive freedom. He’ll waste no time picking up where Kristi Noem left off, terrorizing our communities and carrying out the same agenda with less scrutiny. If the Senate confirms him, they will be endorsing more government overreach, more cruelty, and more attacks on our personal freedoms.”
As head of DHS, Noem caused irreparable harm across the country, spearheading the ICE occupation of Minnesota, covering for the violence of her agents—including the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January—and allowing inhumane conditions within ICE detention facilities to persist. Under Noem’s tenure, at least 32 people died in ICE custody by the end of 2025, 13 people have been shot by federal officers during immigration enforcement operations since September, and six people died in ICE custody in the first few weeks of 2026 alone.
The dangerous impact of DHS operations on reproductive freedom has become clear in the last few months. As The 19th recently reported, fear of ICE enforcement in Minnesota is keeping pregnant immigrants from seeking prenatal and abortion care. People are too afraid to leave their homes to get essential healthcare.
Mullin’s record shows that while the family dog may be safer under his tenure, the communities bearing the brunt of Noem and Trump’s racist mass deportation efforts certainly won’t be.
Since taking office in 2013, Mullin has built a record of opposition to reproductive freedom. He has co-sponsored multiple bills to restrict reproductive health care and defund related services. He also joined Senate Republicans in penning a letter to the FDA urging the agency to implement medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone.
Mullin has also backed multiple efforts to expand ICE’s power and reach, including an $8 billion allocation to hire an additional 10,000 ICE agents to “ramp up deportations,” which he called a “mandate for law and order.” Amid mounting reports of pregnant women in ICE detention being subjected to neglect and inhumane treatment, Mullin opposed a resolution condemning the forced sterilization of immigrant women in custody.
Reproductive Freedom for All will be tracking the Senate’s vote on Mullin closely, and every Senator who puts Trump’s agenda over their constituents will be held accountable.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.