The White House is standing firmly behind Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin despite a growing campaign from Steve Bannon and other prominent MAGA voices demanding his removal, with midterm elections just 90 days away.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson issued a pointed statement to the New York Post defending the embattled secretary, saying President Trump "has confidence in Secretary Mullin and his entire Administration to carry out the agenda the American people voted for." The statement came as Bannon, Laura Loomer, and podcaster Jack Posobiec ramped up public pressure on Mullin over what they call an insufficiently aggressive approach to illegal immigration enforcement.
The flashpoint was Mullin's appearance Saturday at the National Governors Association Summer meeting, where he told governors the country needs comprehensive immigration reform, a phrase that, in conservative politics, has long served as shorthand for legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Mullin also noted that the last major immigration reform came in 1959 and called the stalemate "political."
That language set off alarms on the right. Loomer posted on X calling for Mullin to be fired, writing that "he has done absolutely nothing to increase the rate of mass deportations." Posobiec told the Post there is "a growing wave among MAGA to find a DHS secretary who puts deportations first."
Bannon went further than criticism. He told the Post he wants Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director who previously served as acting director of National Intelligence, installed at DHS, at minimum as head of deportations. Bannon framed Pulte as a proven performer who slashed DNI staff by 30 percent and oversaw the declassification of intelligence tied to the 2020 election.
"If you put him in DHS on an interim basis, even as the head of deportations, you would have the overwhelming support of the MAGA base who really have made Bill Pulte the equivalent of a MAGA folk hero."
Pulte himself dismissed the speculation. "This is complete and total nonsense," he told the Post. He is returning to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, after his DNI tenure ended.
Bannon made no apologies for the pressure campaign. He cast it as essential midterm strategy, not personal grievance.
"We need some trouble stirred up. We have 90 days to go and most people make up their minds around Labor Day, and we gotta get these folks out. So yes, I am stirring up trouble and I'm d***ed proud of it."
His argument is straightforward: immigration and the border remain the issues that drive MAGA turnout, and a DHS secretary who talks about "comprehensive reform" alongside Democratic governors risks demoralizing the base at the worst possible moment. Democrats need a net gain of just four seats to win control of both the House and the Senate.
Mullin, a longtime Republican senator from Oklahoma, took over DHS in March 2026 after his predecessor, Kristi Noem, departed amid controversy. Noem faced bipartisan criticism over a $220 million ad contract awarded to a firm founded just days before the contract was signed, without competitive bidding. Part of the contract was subcontracted to a firm owned by the husband of a former DHS spokeswoman. Noem claimed Trump personally approved the expenditure, a claim Trump publicly denied.
Mullin received bipartisan confirmation, with some Democrats voting in his favor, a detail that itself drew skepticism from hard-liners who questioned whether a candidate palatable to Democrats would enforce immigration law aggressively enough.
Since then, Mullin has stumbled into several unforced errors that gave critics ammunition. In mid-July 2026, after a fatal shooting in Maine involving a federal agent, Mullin ordered a temporary pause on most ICE traffic stops. Trump personally reversed the decision.
On July 4th, Mullin tried to cancel the fireworks display in Washington, D.C., citing weather concerns. Trump overrode him again, demanding the show go on. Neither episode was catastrophic on its own, but together they created a pattern: a DHS secretary who seemed more cautious than the president he serves.
Reports that Mullin was quietly working with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a prominent Trump critic and potential Democratic presidential candidate, on immigration issues only deepened suspicions. Mullin said he had a "real good relationship" with Shapiro, a comment unlikely to reassure a base that views cross-aisle immigration talks as the first step toward amnesty.
Mullin's defenders, and the DHS press shop, counter that the numbers tell a different story than the critics' narrative suggests. A DHS spokesperson told the Post that more than 3 million illegal immigrants have left the United States during Trump's first year back in office, including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 985,000 formal deportations.
"The results speak for themselves. In President Trump's first year back in office, more than 3 million illegal aliens have left the US because of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration."
ICE statistics show more than 350,000 removals for the fiscal year as of July 2026. That pace outstrips deportations during Noem's tenure and puts immigration officials on track to beat a deportation record set during the Obama administration. The Washington Examiner reported that during the first 11 days of July, ICE averaged nearly 1,600 arrests per day, surpassing previous records set in June.
The spokesperson added: "Everyone's on the same page: the Trump administration is enforcing the law, deporting criminal illegal aliens, and defending the homeland."
Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies offered a more structural explanation for the friction. Krikorian told Breitbart that Mullin is essentially absorbing political heat for White House decisions, not acting on his own initiative. The president, Krikorian argued, ultimately controls immigration policy, and the administration is trying to balance donor demands for temporary labor programs with populist voter expectations for mass deportation.
Krikorian also warned that inflated claims about Biden-era illegal immigration, some MAGA figures have cited 20 million illegal immigrants, actually undermine the perceived success of current deportation efforts. If the problem is framed as impossibly large, even record-breaking enforcement looks inadequate.
After the backlash over his NGA remarks, Mullin posted on X with a message that left no room for ambiguity:
"NO amnesty for illegal aliens. Ever. We are a nation of laws. If you are illegally present in the United States of America, you will be detained and deported. Period."
At the same NGA meeting, Mullin also said, "A workforce that's an illegal workforce only grows illegal activity. It doesn't grow the economy in long term", a line more in step with the enforcement-first message his critics want to hear. But the walkback did not quiet Bannon, who told the Post that Mullin has been a "problem from the beginning."
Bannon called Mullin "the wrong guy at the wrong time for the wrong job, a time when we need focus on mass deportations, we get an amnesty advocate."
An AP-NORC poll published this week showed 39 percent of voters approve of Trump's handling of immigration, while just 32 percent favor his approach to the economy. Those numbers frame the political stakes: immigration remains the administration's strongest issue with voters, and any perceived softening risks eroding the one area where Trump still holds a clear advantage.
Trump allies close to the White House told the Post they believe Mullin can survive the current storm. But the ongoing debates over ICE enforcement and the political sensitivity of immigration heading into November mean Mullin has almost no margin for another misstep.
The administration's deportation operations continue to expand, and the raw numbers back up the White House's claim that enforcement is working. Whether those numbers matter more than the messaging, and whether Mullin can stop handing his critics fresh ammunition, will likely determine how long he keeps the job.
When the base that elected you on a promise of mass deportation hears your DHS secretary calling for "comprehensive immigration reform" alongside a Democratic governor, no amount of statistics will close the credibility gap. Mullin's numbers may be strong, but in a base election, perception is the only currency that spends.
