Mullin on Capitol Hill facing questions from House Appropriations Committee

(25 Jun 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ++CAMERA SWITCHED AT SOURCE++ ++QUALITY AS INCOMING++ POOL Washington DC - 25 June 2026 1. Cutaway of House Appropriations Committee hearing 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Lauren Underwood, (D) Illinois: "The death rate in ICE custody has doubled during President Trump's second term. Will you commit to reporting detainee deaths as required by law?" 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security: Mullin: "We do report them, ma'am. No, I don't know. We report these. What you're talking about is what Congress has asked us to do, which we're not required to do is report the deaths after they're released, that doesn't make any sense. They're not under our watch at that point. If they die in our release, we report them." (Underwood: "Is it your testimony that there have been no deaths since April 28th?") Mullin: "I didn't say that." (Underwood: "Okay, so are you going to commit to complying with the required reporting requirements?") Mullin: "Mam we were shut down for 115 days under this department." (Underwood: "Reclaiming my time.") Mullin: "So I don't know what you, we just now reopened. So I dunno what reports you're wanting us to do and you're willing to fund us. You want the reports, but you don't wanna fund us, that makes no sense." (Underwood: "He's been taking up my time.") (Rep. Tom Cole, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee: "What's your next question?") (Underwood: "My next comment is that the ICE.") Mullin: "There's no questions, it's just comments." (Underwood: "No, I had a question, he didn't answer my question. And so") (Cole: " So the record will reflect that. What's your next question?") 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Lauren Underwood, (D) Illinois: "Yes, sir. There is a policy of reviewing and publicly reporting deaths that occur within 30 days of a detainee's release from custody and that policy existed to prevent ICE from avoiding accountability by releasing seriously ill people shortly before they die. And as a nurse, I find this deeply troubling change in their reporting posture. Families deserve answers, and Congress should be able to conduct oversight, and the American people should have confidence that deaths connected to federal detention are not being hidden through administrative loopholes or filibustering. Transparency is not optional, there are laws and reporting requirements, and if this administration is unwilling to account for what happens to people in its custody, then it's Congress's role to question whether it deserves more authority, more detention capacity, or any additional sent from the American people." 5. Cutaway of hearing 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Michael Guest, (R) Mississippi: "At this point kind of give us an update on where we are two weeks into the FIFA World Cup." 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of Homeland Security: 8. Cutaway of hearing STORYLINE: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is on Capitol Hill facing questions from the House Appropriations Committee. Mullin did not read his opening remarks instead submitting it into the committee's record so that representatives could get straight to questioning him about the department he oversees. One heated exchange came between Mullin and Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Democrat from Illinois, over Homeland Security department not reporting deaths in detentions centers. Underwood asked Mullin if "the death rate in ICE custody has doubled during President Trump's second term. Will you commit to reporting detainee deaths as required by law?" Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...