Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attacked Joe Biden’s record during a press conference on Monday. He spoke about the former president in the present tense, even though Biden left the White House around 19 months ago and Donald Trump is now the president.
Markwayne Mullin used present-tense language while criticizing Biden-era immigration policy
Mullin stood beside Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to announce emergency closures of 110 driving schools. Federal authorities say those schools handed commercial driver’s licenses to people who did not meet national rules, including English proficiency standards.
Then the secretary ended up talking about immigration during the briefing. He accused Joe Biden’s administration of actively hurting the country. “You have a Biden administration that is failing the American people because they are allowing millions of people to come into this country illegally,” Mullin said.
Donald Trump’s officials have repeatedly blamed the previous president for many issues over the past 18 months. This pattern continues even as the current administration faces its own falling poll numbers. Mullin’s present-tense criticism of Biden mirrors a broader strategy among Trump allies who still frame national problems as failures of the previous administration.
The driving school closures represent one of several enforcement actions the administration has pursued. Duffy and Mullin both emphasized that public safety drives these decisions. They argued that unqualified commercial drivers put everyone at risk on American roads.
Amid the Transportation Department launching wider reviews of commercial driver’s licenses. The effort forms part of the administration’s push to seemingly tighten immigration enforcement. Thousands of drivers have undergone inspections already. Hundreds have reportedly lost their licenses over English-language requirements.
The administration has also slammed states that previously allowed commercial license applicants to take parts of their tests in other languages. Federal rules place responsibility on states to verify that commercial drivers meet English-language standards before issuing licenses.
