Noem Promotes Mullin To Homeland Security After Deeming National Emergencies 'Educational Opportunities'

WASHINGTON—In a move that aides described as "pedagogically inevitable," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday the appointment of Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as deputy secretary for Educational Readiness, effectively placing him in operational control of the department's crisis response units. The promotion follows a months-long internal review that concluded national emergencies represent "underutilized teaching moments" and that the department's primary failure has been a lack of formal lesson planning.

"We have been treating tornadoes, cyberattacks, and border incursions as problems to be solved, rather than as immersive, project-based learning experiences for the American public," Noem stated during a Pentagon briefing, standing before a corkboard displaying a flowchart titled "From Threat to Teachable Moment." "It's a fundamental misallocation of educational resources."

The reorganization, officially dubbed the "National Classroom Initiative," will immediately shift departmental resources toward developing standardized curricula for events ranging from biological outbreaks to foreign electoral interference. All DHS personnel will be required to obtain emergency teaching credentials through a partnership with the Department of Education, with Mullin—a former professional wrestler and plumbing company owner with no prior educational administration experience—overseeing accreditation. "Rep. Mullin brings a vital hands-on approach to learning," Noem said, citing his background in "practical problem-solving" and "audience engagement." "He understands that a well-structured emergency can build critical thinking skills far more effectively than a textbook."

Internal DHS memos obtained by The Associated Press reveal the initiative's core metric for success will no longer be threat neutralization, but civilian participation rates. Field agents responding to a terrorist threat, for instance, will be graded on their ability to facilitate a post-incident debrief that encourages "collaborative analysis" among witnesses. The memos detail new reporting requirements, including "lesson objectives" for each emergency response and "formative assessments" to measure public comprehension of the crisis. One directive specifically instructs FEMA personnel to "design engaging, multi-sensory activities" for displaced families in shelters, prioritizing "the emotional learning journey" over the speed of resettlement.

The policy shift emerged from a series of contentious senior staff meetings earlier this year, where Noem reportedly grew frustrated with what she termed "the old security paradigm." According to transcripts, when briefed on escalating border crossing numbers, she interrupted the briefer to ask, "But what are we teaching the migrants about American bureaucracy through this process? Where is the syllabus?" The following week, she tasked a team with redesigning migrant processing centers as "interactive learning labs" where asylum seekers would participate in workshops on U.S. civics while awaiting their hearings. A pilot program in Texas has already seen the installation of whiteboards in holding cells and the distribution of worksheets titled "My Path to Citizenship: A Self-Paced Journey."

Critics within the department have voiced concerns, albeit anonymously for fear of reprisal in their performance reviews. One senior analyst involved in chemical threat preparedness reported receiving a "needs improvement" rating after a drill where antidote deployment was timely, but the accompanying lesson plan failed to include differentiated instruction for non-English speakers. Another official noted that Mullin's first action upon accepting the new role was to mandate that all threat-level warnings be accompanied by a "learning objective" and a "hook activity" to capture public attention.

The system now designates a "Code Yellow" for incidents with "clear potential for peer-to-peer learning" and a "Code Red" for scenarios that offer "advanced, inquiry-based exploration opportunities."

Mullin, in his first public comments since the appointment, framed the challenge in starkly practical terms. "Look, if a town is wiped out by a flood, that's terrible," he told reporters. "But it's also a pristine environment for teaching urban planning. We can't let that knowledge sink without a trace." He outlined plans for "After Action Review Carnivals" in disaster-stricken communities, complete with educational booths and a pass/fail system for residents demonstrating retained knowledge from the crisis.

When asked how the department would balance teaching with timely response, Mullin noted that extended response times allow for more comprehensive curriculum integration, citing a recent DHS study that found evacuation delays correlated with higher retention of emergency preparedness principles.

The Government Accountability Office has launched a preliminary inquiry into the initiative's legal basis, questioning whether the Homeland Security Act of 2002 permits the department to redefine its mission around educational outcomes. Noem's office responded with a 30-page document arguing that "national security is fundamentally a state of mind, and states of mind are best achieved through structured pedagogy." The document further contends that the 9/11 Commission Report's recommendation for "imagination" in security planning was, in fact, a call for "more imaginative lesson plans."

As of press time, DHS had announced the cancellation of a multi-billion-dollar contract for a new coastal radar system, diverting the funds instead to develop a semester-long, for-credit high school course entitled "The Border as a Living Classroom." The department's new motto, unveiled on its website Tuesday evening, reads: "Preparing Tomorrow's Citizens, Today."