Sen. Mullin: Local Police Must Wait for World Cup Security Funding, Raising Safety Concerns

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Sunday blamed Democrats for delays in federal reimbursements to local law enforcement agencies helping provide security for the World Cup, while also addressing questions about his use of a $70 million government jet for personal travel.

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union with guest host Kasie Hunt, Mullin said local police departments had faced funding delays tied to the federal budgeting process as they worked to cover the added costs of heightened security for the tournament.

Hunt first asked Mullin whether Americans and international visitors attending World Cup matches could expect to be safe.

Mullin said they could, but argued that funding disruptions had complicated preparations. “The truth is, though, with the Democrats defunding ICE and CBP for 115 days and DHS for 76 days, it made it tough,” he said.

He added that agreements between the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies had been affected by the lag in reimbursements. “Our MOUs that we had with our local law enforcement, the reimbursement was behind. So they had a tremendous amount of expenses coming out because we can’t do this without our local partnerships,” Mullin said.

Hunt then pressed Mullin on whether he would hold Democrats responsible if anything were to go wrong during the World Cup matches.

‘No, I’m not blaming Democrats. I’m just saying the truth is we were unfunded for 76 days, and ICE and CBP, which CBP is leading five of these facilities, we were shut down for 115 days,’ he added.

‘When we are shut down, even though our men and women at Department of Homeland Security, which I have the greatest privilege in the world to lead, are willing to do their job for free, that’s great. The problem is that our local law enforcement that we have to partner with, that we have to give grants to, they weren’t able to be reimbursed,’ Mullin continued.

‘Now, all of them can handle that, but they were willing to work too. We’re playing catch-up on getting the funding out. We’re ready, but I feel positive that we could have been even in a better position if we weren’t having to deal with the gamesmanship of the Democrat Party through this whole political theater of keeping the Department of Homeland shut down,’ he concluded.

Before his appointment to the top job at DHS, Mullin had a front row seat to all of the Senate fights to fund DHS as a US Senator. 

The US House of Representatives narrowly passed a $70 billion package to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the rest of Trump’s term on Tuesday, sending one of his signature priorities to his desk. 

The House passage of the bill followed a nail-biter vote in the Senate earlier this month, where the bill was almost upended by Trump’s $1.8 billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund,’ which some GOP senators pushed to strip from the package.

Later in the program, when discussing the upcoming midterm elections and the need to zero out non-citizen voting, Mullin dropped that he and his wife had flown back to Oklahoma, his home state, to vote early in the primary elections that will take place this coming Tuesday, June 16th.

‘My wife and I voted just actually yesterday. We flew back to Oklahoma just to be able to vote in our — in our primary coming up,’ Mullin revealed.

DHS confirmed that a $70 million jet was purchased by the department during the tenure of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Prior to the confirmation of new Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the jet remained ‘available to Cabinet members who need secure command and control and rapid long-range mobility.’

The passage of the comprehensive immigration package by Congress follows a record 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier this year, when Democrats refused to support new money for ICE after the deaths of protesters in Minneapolis.

Republicans rejected their demands, instead choosing to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the fast-track ‘budget reconciliation’ process, which allows them to bypass Democratic opposition if they can keep their own members united.

The White House says the bill will provide $38 billion for ICE, $26 billion for the Border Patrol and another $5 billion to cover unforeseen costs.

It frontloads routine annual funding, ensuring a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the Trump administration seeks to deport some one million people per year.

The funding comes on top of the nearly $140 billion that the Republican-controlled Congress gave ICE and Customs and Border Protection last year as part of Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill.

Democrats objected to giving the agencies more money without significant changes in the way they operate after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was removed from her post by President Trump after facing a litany of scandals

Democrats insisted agents remove masks, display ID badges during enforcement operations and obtain a judicial warrant before entering private property. Instead, the money comes with virtually no strings attached.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Republicans weren’t focused on the top priorities of the American people and have cut access to Medicaid and nutrition assistance through Trump’s earlier tax and spending cut bill.

‘Republicans have now come back for more, to give ICE and Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine another $70 billion blank check, with no oversight, no accountability and no guardrails,’ Jeffries said.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise countered that Democrats were not adequately supportive of law enforcement.

‘Make no mistake, if you’re voting yes, you’re not only voting to secure America’s border, you’re voting to fund law enforcement,’ Scalise said. ‘And if you vote no, you are voting to defund the police.’

The money will come at a pivotal time for DHS, which is under new leadership after Trump replaced Kristi Noem with new Secretary Mullin in March.