U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) got into a heated debate with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin over whether the department would obey court orders during a budget hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Murphy and several Republican-appointed judges say DHS and ICE have ignored nearly 100 court orders this year.
Connecticut’s junior senator is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds DHS. Mullin, a former U.S. Senator, was appointed to lead DHS less than two months ago, after Kristi Noem was ousted.
“Will you or will you not implement court orders?” Murphy asked.
“If we didn't think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that, but we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law,” Mullin replied.
Mullin repeated that he would enforce the law and Constitution.
“Listen, if you're a Republican or Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out,” Murphy said a few moments later.
“We should be really concerned about the rulings that come out of the courts, and how often they get overturned,” Mullin said.
DHS was shut down for more than two months earlier this year. Democrats refused to fund it over concerns about immigration enforcement. That could happen again in September, according to Mullin.
