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In his first Cabinet reshuffle of his second term, President Donald Trump last month ousted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who was confirmed by the Senate on March 23.

While Mullin holds some views antithetical to the security of our nation, he can prove his mettle in this role by ensuring the Federal Emergency Management Agency is prepared to respond to hurricane season, which begins in a few weeks. Doing so would alleviate worries in storm-threatened areas such as ours about changes to that critical agency and inspire confidence that Washington is ready to respond when disaster strikes.

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Leading DHS is arguably the most challenging Cabinet post in the executive branch. While others, such as attorney general and secretary of state, are equally, if not more, consequential, Homeland Security is the third-largest department by workforce and represents a sprawling Frankenstein’s monster of various offices consolidated under one umbrella in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

These include Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol carrying out the Trump administration’s often brutal and deeply unpopular immigration campaign, the subject of a funding impasse in Congress over Democratic demands that federal agents obey the law and honor court rulings in their operations. DHS also includes the Secret Service, Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Agency among its 22 agencies.

A key focus of the department is emergency readiness, and Congress gives DHS authority over FEMA. That agency helps coordinate resources and assistance to help battered communities after floods, fires, hurricanes and other disasters, and serves as a critical lifeline to victims in their aftermath.

Under Noem, however, and at the direction of the president, FEMA pulled back from its stated mission “to help people before, during and after disasters.” Upon taking office in 2025, Trump moved to severely curtail, if not eliminate, the agency and deflect responsibility for disaster recovery from Washington to the affected states and localities.

That view ignores the important role FEMA plays in bringing various response agencies together and leveraging resources from the federal government to deliver assistance quickly. Few states can afford a billion-dollar disaster and, at a time when such disasters are increasingly common, sunsetting FEMA would effectively abandon victims in their time of greatest need.

There is hope that Mullin, unlike Noem, understands this. As a resident of tornado-prone Oklahoma, he has experience with FEMA’s work on the ground amid the rubble of buildings and so many shattered lives. His recognition of the value of federal assistance should make him a better fit to guide FEMA through reforms than his predecessor.

There is plenty about Mullin that is concerning, and his handling of the immigration campaign will define his tenure. But for communities such as ours that spend months warily eyeing storm formation in the tropics, his ascension to DHS secretary could mean better things for FEMA, which is a measure of comfort before hurricane season begins.

— The Virginian-Pilot