Senate Leader Mullin Calls Democratic DHS Shutdown Demands ‘Political Theater’ to Disrupt Trump’s State of the Union Address

On Sunday, Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma declared that Democrats’ demands for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding are “political theater” designed to disrupt President Donald Trump’s upcoming annual address to Congress.

During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mullin stated: “What we have been focused on and what I’ve been laser-focused on is DHS funding, trying to get away from this Democrat shutdown with DHS.” He added that the dispute is “nothing but a distraction” as it occurs ahead of Trump’s State of the Union address.

Mullin emphasized that if Democrats were serious about their demands, they would not be holding TSA workers, FEMA personnel, or Coast Guard officers hostage over something he called “a ridiculous shutdown of DHS.” He argued that the Democrats’ goal of stopping immigration enforcement is unfeasible.

“The only thing they shut down are the federal agencies like FEMA, the Coast Guard, and TSA,” Mullin explained. “ICE and the Border Patrol are funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill up until 2028.”

When pressed on whether he supported Democratic proposals for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mullin endorsed body cameras but opposed visible photo identification.

“Body cameras, 100%,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” He added: “As far as having like a photo ID exposed, absolutely not.”

Mullin further stated that he opposed exposing agents’ identities because “the Democrats we’ve seen have been doxxing them.” He elaborated: “They went into their place of worship, where they thought they might be. They went into their hotels. They went into the restaurants. What are you going to do, expose their faces so you can intimidate their families?”