Markwayne Mullin’s Amnesty Comments Have Bannon Demanding Trump Replace Him at DHS

Markwayne Mullin already infuriated Trump's base once by halting ICE vehicle stops after deadly shootings.

Now the same secretary just told the nation's governors he wants to expand migrant labor programs.

Steve Bannon is now telling Trump to fire him and hand DHS to someone else.

Bannon Wants Bill Pulte Running Homeland Security Instead

Markwayne Mullin took over the Department of Homeland Security in March.

He replaced Kristi Noem in March, after her turbulent tenure finally ran out of runway.

Four months later, Mullin is the one under fire.

On Friday, Mullin sat down with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt at the National Governors Association Summer Meeting in Oklahoma City.

He told Stitt the idea that visa workers steal American jobs isn't true across every industry.

He said the government could help employers by expanding legal work permits so foreign labor could "plug those holes" left by American workers.

Stitt has pushed Washington for years to let CEOs import cheap labor instead of raising wages for Americans.

He thanked Mullin for the opening.

Hours later, Mullin tried to walk it back with a hardline post on X.

He promised zero amnesty and vowed that anyone here illegally would be found and deported.

It was too late.

Steve Bannon had already heard enough, and he told Politico exactly who should replace him.

"Mullin is the wrong guy at the wrong time for the wrong job," Bannon said.

Bannon wants Trump to hand the department to acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte instead.

Bovino and Starbuck Pile On After the Fireside Chat

Bannon was not alone.

Former Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino tore into Mullin's performance on X within hours of the panel wrapping up.

Bovino said voters made themselves clear on what they wanted from DHS.

Mass deportations, not a lecture on visa reform.

Conservative commentator Robby Starbuck went further, saying Mullin's remarks betrayed the movement outright.

Both men made the same point in different words: Mullin sounded like a man looking for reasons not to deport people.

That is a dangerous look for the head of Homeland Security four months before the midterms.

Trump built his second term on a promise of mass removals, record ICE arrests, and zero patience for excuses.

Mullin gave Republican governors excuses instead.

He did it standing next to a governor who profits every time Congress expands the labor pipeline.

He told Stitt Congress hasn't passed real immigration reform in nearly seven decades and blamed politics for the standoff.

He also floated expanding the H-2A visa program for dairy farmers, on top of the work-permit changes he already wants for other industries.

None of that plays well for an administration that built its entire second term on the opposite promise.

The Real Fight Is Business Lobbyists Versus MAGA Voters

Here's what nobody at that fireside chat wanted to say out loud.

Stitt owns a bank in Oklahoma, and cheap migrant labor is good for banks.

Every apartment complex, retail store, and low-wage warehouse built to house and employ that labor generates loan business.

It does not generate higher wages for the Americans competing against that labor.

A fresh crop of about 3.5 million young Americans enters the job market every single year.

Executives who never wanted to raise wages or buy new equipment would rather Washington keep the labor spigot open than compete for American workers.

Mullin, a former plumbing contractor himself, understands that pressure firsthand.

That's exactly why hardliners don't trust him to resist it.

George W. Bush tried a nearly identical guest-worker plan back in 2001, and it helped light the fuse under the populist revolt that eventually delivered Trump the nomination.

Bannon remembers that history better than almost anyone in Washington, which is why he's not waiting around to see how this plays out.

Pulte has no border experience, and Bannon does not care.

To Bannon, running ICE raids beats running a fireside chat with a bank owner.

He wants Pulte in the job before Mullin holds another one.

Trump has stood behind every DHS secretary right up until the moment he didn't.

Noem found that out.

Mullin now knows exactly how that feels.

Sources:

• Neil Munro, "Markwayne Mullin: Migrants Can Help 'Plug … Holes' in the Economy," Breitbart, August 2, 2026.
• Fox News, "Markwayne Mullin faces conservative backlash over immigration speech," Fox News, August 2, 2026.
• Washington Examiner, "Steve Bannon says MAGA supporters want Bill Pulte to replace Markwayne Mullin at DHS," Washington Examiner, August 2, 2026.
• Breitbart, "Trump Fires Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem," Breitbart, March 6, 2026.
• Fox News, "Trump orders DHS to reverse pause on ICE immigration vehicle stops," Fox News, July 2026.