ICT Staff
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was sworn in Tuesday afternoon, making him the first Native American to lead the department and the second Native person to lead a cabinet agency.
After taking his hand off the Bible held by his wife, Christie, Mullin addressed the crowd in the Oval Office.
“ … I’ve made this very clear that I don’t care what color your state is. I don’t care if you’re red or you’re blue. At the end of the day, my job is to be Secretary of Homeland and to protect everybody the same, and we will do that,” he said. “I’ll fight every single day.
Mullin continued: “Today I got the privilege of meeting so many of the employees at DHS. These employees have been there for 30 days without pay, and if you need anything to know their dedication to show up and still protect the homeland that you and I enjoy and the freedoms that we’re experiencing, they’re working for free because of political politics, that’s all I need to know. I told them, as you’re fighting 365 days, understand I’ll be fighting 365 days besides you and I’m not gonna let any of them outwork me. The President is entrusting me with this, and failure is not an option. So thank you so much, Mr. President, for this opportunity. I won’t let you down.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi swore in Mullin with his six children and other family members in attendance to witness the ceremony.
Mullin’s post is historical in a handful of ways.
He is the first Native American to lead the Homeland Security department, the second Native American to lead a cabinet agency, and the third Native person to be in the president’s cabinet.
He follows in the footsteps of previous Native Americans in the presidential cabinet: former Vice President Charles Curtis, Kaw Nation, under former President Herbert Hoover and former U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, under the Biden administration for four years.
Mullin, Republican, became the first Native American man to serve in the U.S. Senate since the late Ben Knighthorse Campbell, who served as Colorado’s senator from 1993 to 2005.
Trump opened the ceremony saying he is “thrilled” for Mullin to be the next DHS secretary.
“He’s the only Native American in the Senate. Well, you’re a fantastic representative,” Trump said. “The first member of the Cherokee Nation to serve as a member of the cabinet. I didn’t know all these things. I would have picked him faster if I had known I would have a quicker decision.”
President Donald Trump listens as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during the swearing-in at the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In addition to his lived experience as a Cherokee person who grew up on his family allotment land in eastern Oklahoma, Mullin will bring a wealth of knowledge on tribal sovereignty, treaty rights and trust responsibilities to President Donald J. Trump’s cabinet.
“It isn’t just that he’s Native,” Michael Stopp, Mullin’s former chief-of-staff and political pundit, told ICT. “It’s super exciting to see someone who has that experience and knowledge get to such a high level in the cabinet. I also think it’s very important for our younger folks to see that it’s absolutely possible for someone to do this. Representation matters.”
On Monday night, Mullin resigned from the U.S. Senate.
“It’s unfortunate to see him leaving the Senate, but to have him as [Department of Homeland Security] secretary is going to be very good for the country,” Stopp said.
Mullin would bring a level-headedness to his new role that wasn’t present in the department before, Stopp said.
In the past, Mullin owned one of the largest service businesses in Oklahoma, because of that he understands the importance of immigration, according to Stopp.
As a member of Congress, Mullin has been outspoken about border security.
“He has hired migrant workers. He knows that migrant workers are very important to the U.S. economy, but we also need to know who’s here,” Stopp, Cherokee, said. “There does need to be a strong border policy, but at the same time, we need to make sure that we’re bringing in the right people to do the work.”
Native people’s reaction to Mullin
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation congratulated Mullin as he advanced toward his new post.
“As a Cherokee citizen, his service on the national stage carries deep meaning. We will miss his leadership in the Senate but know he will serve the country well in such a critical role on the world and national stage,” he said. “This is a critical time for DHS. As DHS Secretary Mullin can focus the agency better on law and order, fiscal discipline, public safety, emergency response, federal and tribal relations and most critically a commitment to due process and respect for the dignity of all human life. We wish him success in his new role as he works to protect the nation while carrying forward the values that have guided our families and communities.”
The Coalition of Large Tribes, an organization for all large land-based tribal nations, said they are looking forward to working with the secretary.
“Mullin is the first Native American that has been Secretary of Homeland Security, which we’re very proud of,” said OJ Semans, Sicangu Lakota and executive director of the coalition. “We have worked with Senator Mullin, Congressman Mullin, in the past. And he has been very helpful to large land-based tribes. And so we are ready and willing to work with him to see how we can move forward in a better way for Indian Country.”
While many are excited about Mullin’s new role, many Native people have been criticizing Mullin for supporting Trump, leading a department that has arrested Native people across the country, and have been questioning his Cherokee identity.
Some have been saying Mullin is a joke and called him a fake Cherokee. While Mullin is enrolled based on the tribe’s enrollment criteria and the Cherokee Nation claims him back, many people are finding the new secretary controversial.
Melissa Skeet, Diné, explained in a video with more than 4,500 likes and 1,500 shares on Facebook after Mullin’s nomination in early March.
She wrote that his blood quantum is not the issue or “how Cherokee he is” but it’s “what he actually represents.” It’s not that he “looks white” either, she wrote. “The point is who he aligns himself with.”
“Markwayne Mullin has been one of the strongest supporters of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. And the beliefs and policies tied to that movement have repeatedly harmed Native people,” she wrote. “They’ve threatened Tribal sovereignty, weakened protections for Native lands, ignored Native communities, pushed damaging policies like [ICE] raids, increased MMIP cases and continue to send our relatives into pointless wars.”
She also mentions how he referenced the Trail of Tears as a “volunteer walk.”
“So when people say ‘representation matters,’ I agree but representation isn’t just about someone claiming an identity. It’s about what they stand for and who they choose to align themselves with,” she said. “It’s about the policies they support … I mean just because someone says they’re Native doesn’t automatically mean they’re representing Native people. And in this case, Mullin has made it very clear where he stands.”
Oklahoma’s Senate seat
Oklahoma’s governor on Tuesday appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to serve in the U.S. Senate through the end of the year and finish Mullin’s term. Mullin would have been up for reelection in November.
The choice by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who had pledged to pick a “conservative voice” to fill Mullin’s seat, elevates to the Senate the chairman and former CEO of Williams Companies, a major pipeline operator based in Tulsa.
“He’s a strong business leader who understands the power of free markets and limited government,” Stitt said.
The last nine months of his term will now be filled by Armstrong, who under Oklahoma law must agree to not run for a full term this fall. Republican U.S. Rep Kevin Hern quickly announced his candidacy for the Senate seat and has already been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Armstrong, who has never served in elected office, has spent his career with Williams Companies, which employs about 5,800 people and specializes in the collection, storage and transportation of natural gas. He became president and CEO in 2011 and transitioned to executive chairman last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The post DHS Secretary Mullin sworn in: ‘No one is going to out work me’ appeared first on ICT.
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