Today, as Markwayne Mullin prepares for his Senate confirmation hearing, one question haunts me: at what exact moment did the United States decide that running national security was like hosting a reality TV show?

Because frankly, let's look at the facts. Read more: trump plays naive Trump fires Kristi Noem from DHS — already a questionable choice to begin with — and replaces her with a senator from Oklahoma whose main qualification seems to be... being a senator from Oklahoma who says "yes sir" at the right moment.

The Permanent Casting Syndrome

Mullin isn't a bad guy, by American Senate standards. Read more: breaking trumps america But running DHS isn't about voting on resolutions. It's managing 240,000 employees, a $60 billion budget, and coordinating everything touching homeland security — from cyberattacks to natural disasters to immigration.

Let's compare for a moment with our neighbors. In Canada, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino at least had legal training and security experience before his appointment. In France, Gérald Darmanin had been through Bercy and knew the administrative machinery. Even in China, where technocratic meritocracy rules, security officials climb the ranks for decades.

But in Trump 2.0 America? You take a senator, slap a "loyal" label on him, and voilà — here's your new national security boss.

The Art of Nomination by Elimination

What fascinates me about this nomination is how it reveals the Trump method in all its splendor. As the New York Times reports, Noem was "ousted" — charming euphemism for "fired without ceremony." Why? Mystery. Incompetence? Political disagreement? Or simply because Trump felt like changing toys?

Doesn't matter. What's important is that Mullin checks all the right boxes: Oklahoma Republican (guaranteed red state), senator long enough to know the system, and above all — above all — malleable enough to never contradict the boss.

It's exactly the opposite of what DHS needs. This department needs a technocrat, not a politician. A manager, not a courtier. A security expert, not a reelection expert.

DHS Isn't a Toy

Let's remember what the Department of Homeland Security actually manages: TSA (those people who search your bags), immigration services, federal cybersecurity, natural disaster management, and more. When a cyberattack paralyzes a pipeline or a hurricane devastates Florida, it's the DHS secretary who coordinates the response.

Has Mullin ever managed a crisis of this magnitude? Does he have expertise in cybersecurity? Disaster management? Immigration? According to the BBC, his experience is essentially limited to his elected mandates and... a career as a plumbing entrepreneur. Nothing against plumbers — God knows we need them — but fixing pipes and securing a country aren't exactly the same job.

Confirmation, This Democratic Masquerade

The best part of all this? The confirmation hearing happening today before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. We're going to witness the usual ballet: prepared questions, evasive answers, hollow promises to "work with Congress."

Democratic senators will ask pointed technical questions. Mullin will respond that he'll "surround himself with the best experts" and "take time to study the files." Republicans will pretend to be impressed by his "vast experience" and "patriotic commitment."

And in the end? He'll be confirmed, because Republicans have the majority and Trumpist loyalty trumps everything else.

American Exceptionalism, Again and Always

What astounds me is that this nomination shocks no one across the Atlantic. As if it were normal for a president to treat key positions in his administration like rewards to distribute to his friends.

In France, imagine Macron appointing a majority deputy to Interior without any security experience. The outcry would be immediate. In Canada, Trudeau may have his flaws, but he doesn't appoint his buddies to crucial technical positions just to please them.

But in the United States, it's business as usual. Trump 2.0 continues exactly where Trump 1.0 left off: treating the federal government like his private property.

The Real Problem

Beyond Mullin himself — who will probably make as mediocre and predictable a DHS secretary as expected — this nomination reveals a systemic problem. The United States has transformed its institutions into a political playground, where competence comes after loyalty.

Result? A country that spends more than anyone on national security but hands the keys to amateurs. A country that boasts of being "the world's greatest democracy" but functions like an elective monarchy where the king distributes duchies to his court.

And meanwhile, China trains its cadres for decades, France maintains a competent senior civil service, and even Canada — despite being the champion of bureaucratic mediocrity — does better than this.

VERDICT: 2/10 for competence, 9/10 for predictability. Mullin will be confirmed, do the job without distinction, and in two years, we'll wonder why American homeland security looks like a Monty Python sketch.