President Donald Trump’s announcement that Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin will become the new Secretary of Homeland Security — replacing embattled Kristi Noem — is drawing mockery.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported that “Trump loves watching Mullin on TV and often praises him, which was a factor in this decision.”

Calling him “erratic” and “unstable,” California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom slammed Mullin’s nomination.

“Markwayne Mullin could not remember if we were at war THIS WEEK,” he said. “His state has one of the highest crime rates in the country — with a murder rate 40% higher than California’s. He literally tried to fight union workers during a hearing and told them to ‘shut your mouth.’ And said ‘I don’t want reality’ at a Senate hearing about race.”

The president may have another challenge ahead of him.

After dodging increasing calls for Noem’s impeachment over her controversial congressional testimony on Wednesday, he wrote that Mullin will be the new DHS Secretary as of March 31. Politico’s Kyle Cheney notes there are other factors at work.

According to Cheney, “it’s not clear how Trump can simply announce this is effective on March 31. Mullin is not Senate-confirmed and not eligible to become acting secretary under laws governing cabinet-level vacancies.”

If it’s a matter of getting enough Democrats to support Mullin, Trump can already count on the Senator from Pennsylvania.

“As a member of the Homeland Security Committee + Ranking Member of Subcommittee on Border Security: I’m not sure how many fellow Democrats will vote to support our colleague  @SenMullin as the next DHS Secretary, but I am AYE,” Democratic Senator John Fetterman wrote.

Meanwhile, critics continued to express opposition to the decision to hand the reins of the more than $100 billion federal agency to Mullin.

“Firing Noem to hire Markwayne Mullin is the definition of going from bad to worse,” declared Democratic strategist Max Burns.

Some pointed out that Mullin is the only current U.S. Senator to not hold a bachelor’s degree.

Others noted that he is “the same guy who was hiding from MAGA rioters during the January 6th insurrection.”

And some pointed to reports “showing him in violation of the STOCK Act.”

The progressive social media account The Tennessee Holler called Mullin “one of the biggest Trump sycophants in Congress.”

The Atlantic’s Norman Ornstein added, “That Markwayne Mullin is the dumbest member of the Senate was a qualification for Trump to choose him to head DHS.”

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President Donald Trump’s war against Iran is having harsh effects on the price of gas for consumers, but no one is being harder hit than his red-state base.

According to Patrick De Haan, the widely-cited head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, as of Thursday morning, the national average price of gasoline stands at $3.24 per gallon.

“That’s now just 1.4 cents shy of its highest national average since 2024 — and, based on GasBuddy’s tracking, the highest national average so far during President Trump’s two terms,” De Haan writes.

What that means is collectively, he says, Americans are paying about $90 million more at the pump than just one week ago.

At the state level, 49 out of 50 states have seen at least a ten-cent increase since last week. And twelve states are seeing at least a 30-cent increase in just the past week.

READ MORE: ‘Total Scumbag Move’: MAGA Rages as Trump Faces Demands to End Texas GOP War

Who is being hit the hardest?

Nine of the top ten highest price increases are being seen in red states.

De Haan says that Louisiana is being hit the hardest, with a 39.7-cent per gallon increase over last week.

Georgia is seeing a 37.5 cent increase. Iowa, Indiana, and West Virginia are all in the 35-cent range. Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Ohio in the 34-cent range. South Dakota comes in at a 32.6-cent increase. And Illinois, a blue state, comes in at number ten, at 31.1 cents per gallon.

According to Michael Gunther, senior vice president at Consumer Edge, the “pain isn’t evenly distributed.”

He says that “customers of value-oriented, drive-dependent brands — Dollar General, Jack in the Box, Boot Barn — allocate the highest share of their wallet to gas. Lower-income, suburban consumers with very little cushion to absorb a sustained spike.”

De Haan adds that gas prices will continue to climb.

“While the national average gas price is seeing a slower climb today, increases will likely throttle back up soon as wholesale gasoline prices jump again,” he notes.

READ MORE: Trump Uses Voter ID Push to Stoke Base With ‘Men in Women’s Sports’ Claim

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After touting the controversial SAVE America Act as “a Country Defining fight for the Soul of our Nation!”, President Donald Trump is now suggesting it would reshape rules for sports participation and health care access for transgender people — changes the bill does not actually make.

The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and voter ID to vote at the polls. It would also sharply restrict mail-in voting. Critics argue the legislation will disenfranchise millions of Americans who do not have a passport or access to their birth certificates. It could make voting difficult for married people who changed their names but not their names on their records. Some estimates say more than 140 million Americans do not have a valid passport and millions do not have access to a paper copy of their birth certificates.

According to President Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday, the bill requires voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote, and no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military, or travel. It also bans “men in women’s sports,” and “transgender mutilation surgery for children, without the express written approval of the parents.”

The current House and Senate versions of the bill do not mention transgender people or sports.

Transgender issues are a hot button issue for many of Trump’s supporters, as he continues to push passage of the bill “at the expense of everything else.”

Last month, Trump said that if Congress passes strict voting measures Republicans “won’t lose a race for 50 years,” CNN reported.

“We’ll never lose a race for 50 years. We won’t lose a race. We want voter ID. We want proof of citizenship, and we don’t want mail-in ballots,” he said, while supporting some exceptions.

READ MORE: ‘Total Scumbag Move’: MAGA Rages as Trump Faces Demands to End Texas GOP War

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