WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman immediately threw his support behind President Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday after he fired Secretary Kristi Noem amid growing pressure and controversies around the agency’s deportation agenda.

Less than 20 minutes after Trump announced the change on social media, the Pennsylvania Democrat posted on X that he will vote to confirm Republican U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, of Oklahoma.

“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 (Mullin) as the next DHS Secretary, but I am AYE,” Mr. Fetterman posted.

Fetterman made a direct appeal to the president earlier on Thursday, reiterating his call for Noem’s firing by emphasizing what he’s previously said is his credibility to speak out on the issue as a pro-immigration and pro-border-security Democrat.

Highlighting a report that Trump was on the verge of replacing Noem, Fetterman referred to her as “Mayorkas 2.0,” a reference to former President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security secretary who Republicans and other critics blamed for illegal border crossings.

He also referenced his support for the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-sponsored law passed last year to ramp up Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics.

“I want a secure border. You’re accomplishing that. Double down on deporting criminal migrants. It’s what any reasonable citizen wants and voted for,” wrote Fetterman, who originally voted to confirm Noem last year.

The senator has come under intense scrutiny from constituents who’ve said they do not support Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Though he had called for Noem’s ousting during the national upheaval after ICE agents killed two American citizens in Minnesota, Fetterman said he still supported Trump’s mission to deport undocumented immigrants.

Pennsylvanians on the other side of the issue coordinated protests at all of his offices across the state, including multiple protests in Pittsburgh, as well as in Washington, D.C. Immigration enforcers are routinely abusing their power and illegally detaining both undocumented immigrants and people legally living in the country, critics have said.

“It’s about time,” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, said on social media after Trump’s announcement Thursday.

Lee has been among a cohort of progressive Democrats arguing for the complete elimination of ICE.

“But Trump's violent, cruel deportation agenda didn't begin with Kristi Noem & it won't end with her firing,” she continued Thursday. “We need to abolish ICE, dismantle DHS, & prosecute everyone responsible for violating our rights, bypassing due process, & killing people in our streets.”

Lee and other Democratic members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation have also clashed with Fetterman over the Homeland Security budget.

Democrats last month blocked a funding package that would have increased spending on ICE when Republicans declined to include mandated reforms like banning agents from wearing masks or conducting warrantless arrests. The House Democrats from Pennsylvania made a rare public plea for both Fetterman and Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick to reject the funding bill, though both ultimately voted to pass it — with Fetterman becoming the only Senate Democrat to do so.

McCormick, a Trump ally who has supported his other appointments, did not immediately weigh in on Noem’s firing or Mullin’s selection to replace her.

_____

© 2026 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.