After former Department of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem was fired by President Donald Trump amid concerns about her starring role in a self-serving $220-million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign, it turns out the lawmaker sworn in on Tuesday to take her place, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, has a few red flags of his own when it comes to financial conflicts of interest. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Current Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin (Photos: Getty Images) The 48-year-old business owner and former MMA fighter amassed his wealth initially through the plumbing and HVAC company he took over from his father at age 20, reporting a net worth between $2.8 million and $9 million when he was first elected to Congress in 2012.But since then, his assets have ballooned to a value between $29 million and $97 million in 2024, according to the latest available financial disclosure forms reviewed by The New York Times, which published a deep dive into Mullin’s finances last week. ‘Imbecile’: Trump Brags About His Intelligence, Spirals Into Obama Insult— Then an Unexpected Twist Publicly Destroys Him Much of the growth in the Oklahoma senator’s portfolio comes from ramped-up stock trading, some involving buying and selling shares in companies in the defense and health care industries that Mullin has overseen while serving on the Senate Armed Services and Health and Indian Affairs committees.Mullin has held shares worth up to $2 million in six companies that have significant contracts with DHS, including Microsoft, RTX, and L3Harris, leading defense contractors, and VSE Corporation, which maintains and repairs aircraft. Mullin disclosed buying $30,000 to $100,000 worth of shares in L3Harris in 2025 (Congressional rules only require lawmakers to report the value of their assets in broad ranges) — and the value of those shares has since increased by 65 percent, the Times reported, while the stock market overall has grown by just 13 percent during the same period. On Dec. 29, Mullin invested as much as $2.8 million in 31 companies, including buying shares in Chevron, the only major U.S. oil company producing in Venezuela. Five days later, Trump attacked Venezuela, demanding its leadership give better terms to U.S. oil companies. Chevron’s stock price has since surged as the market overall has slipped. Mullin’s trading activity is not illegal — federal law doesn’t prohibit members of Congress from trading stock, even in industries overseen by committees on which they serve — and the Times found no indication that Mullin had inside knowledge of the administration’s plans before those stock transactions.“None of this is evidence of insider trading,” said Bruce Sacerdote, a Dartmouth economist who examined Mullin’s trades at the request of the Times. “This could be blind luck.” But the spike in Mullin’s trading activity and rapid rise in net worth have caused concern as he takes over an agency whose budget was nearly tripled to $190 billion last year and is now issuing billions of dollars in new contracts to bolster immigration enforcement.The appearance of self-aggrandizement and cronyism in doling out contracts for her $220 million ad campaign for DHS is what White House officials privately said got his predecessor Noem in hot water with Congress and eventually, Trump. One ad included a video of Noem in Western gear and a cowboy hat riding a horse through a pine forest at Mount Rushmore, and sternly saying, “You cross the border illegally, we’ll find you.” In other slick ads, she encouraged immigrants to self-deport, making herself the public face of the department. Noem was grilled about the expensive campaign in March by members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, who honed in on The Strategy Group, which worked to make some of the ads for Safe America Media, a firm run by Republican operatives that received at least $15.2 million in a limited-bid contract, Politico reported. The Strategy Group is run by Ben Yoho, the husband of Noem’s former right-hand communications aide, Tricia McLaughlin. Noem insisted she had nothing to do with selecting subcontractors for the campaign, and Yoho later testified his firm earned only $226,000 from it. But her weak defense of what looked like favoritism in contracting, and then telling senators that Trump had approved the costly ad campaign (which he later denied), led to her ouster.Since last year, a bipartisan group of congressional leaders and lawmakers, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Kelly, and Josh Hawley, and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortze, has called for strict limits on stock trading by members of Congress, aiming to prevent conflicts of interest and the use of insider information.Others are calling for similar constraints on cabinet members. “Senator Mullin has been among the most active stock traders in Congress and his wealth has soared in value while in the Senate,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a government watchdog group, ahead of Mullin’s confirmation hearing on March 18. “So far, Senator Mullin has not committed to selling his shares in companies contracting with the Department of Homeland Security, which should be the bare minimum for any nominee seeking confirmation.“If Republicans thought Noem’s self-promoting and dealing was problematic, they have not explained why Mullin’s is different, including his recent multiple trades at DHS-connected corporations,” she said. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said that as DHS secretary, Mullin “will comply with all ethics and conflict of interest rules, just as every cabinet secretary does.” ‘Self-Promoting’: Kristi Noem Is Out After $220M Scandal, But the New DHS Head Miraculously Increased His Income By at Least $20M After Joining Congress ...read more read less