Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s experience as a plumber may come in handy when he arrives at the Department of Homeland Security as the new director, when he see the mess left behind by his fired predecessor Kristi Noem.
According to a report from Axios, the highly unpopular Noem, who was unceremoniously booted from the Trump administration cabinet almost two weeks ago will be leaving behind stacks of unpaid bills and unfinished contracts that will need to be resolved before the Oklahoma Republican can make his own mark on the troubled agency.
Dozens of pending contracts are accumulating on desks as vendors wait for payments and essential projects languish. Trump's signature priorities—mass deportations and border wall construction—have been delayed. Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief has also stalled due to Noem foot-dragging.
"There's a mountain of backed-up contracts and invoices on her desk that the new guy will just have to deal with," a DHS insider told Axios.
The dysfunction predates even the partial government shutdown that began February 14 over immigration policy disagreements. A source familiar with FEMA operations described the situation bluntly: "From everything that I've heard, it's still a giant s--- show up there."
The long-term consequences could prove severe. "The ramifications of her tenure are going to be felt for years and years and years and years," the source warned. "We're not really going to know exactly how bad it is until we have a major hurricane that unfortunately impacts someplace in the United States."
Reversing Noem's system won't provide quick relief. According to officials familiar with the situation, even if her review process is completely dismantled, "it's going to take weeks, if not months, of constant work" to restore vendors' funding and resume normal operations.
Mullin has not indicated whether he plans to continue or abandon the departing DHS head's contracting system, which Noem chief of staff Corey Lewandowski declined to recommend.
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