When Markwayne Mullin attempted to install his personal pick to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement inside the Department of Homeland Security, the White House shot it down immediately.

It was a pointed brushback of Mullin's authority.

Six weeks into the job, Mullin is learning a hard lesson about Donald Trump's Washington which carries a whiff of monarchy: While he holds a prominent title, someone else is making the decisions. 

The real power brokers at DHS, nicknamed by one source as the 'adults in the room,' are Border Czar Tom Homan, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar and as always White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. 

Despite being the Secretary, Mullin is described by insiders as a 'figurehead' while Edgar runs the day-to-day operations.

A source close to the White House offered a defense of Mullin that said as much about his constraints as his standing: 'He has a seat at the table… but it's a table.'

The White House is reportedly 'gating' Mullin's influence at every turn - a dynamic that stands in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Kristi Noem, who ran the agency largely autonomously along with her longtime rumored lover Corey Lewandowski. 

One senior administration official described the shift in leadership in blunt terms: 'Noem ran DHS like a medieval monarch, a queen with real power. Mullin is more like a figurehead. I don't think he realized that going in.'

Nowhere is that clearer than in the race to replace former ICE director Todd Lyons, a high-stakes decision that insiders say is being steered not by the Secretary, but by Homan - with Mullin left to sign off on whatever name lands on his desk. 

Two top candidates have been identified as the primary contenders to lead ICE, according to several sources familiar with the department's deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The shortlist includes a career agency official and a senior executive currently managing the agency's detention contracts. 

The first individual under consideration is Marcos Charles, the acting executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) at ICE. 

The second contender is David Venturella, the second-ranking official in the ICE division that oversees immigrant detention center contracts. Venturella, a former executive at the private prison firm GEO Group, notably helped Paolo Zampolli deport his Brazilian ex-girlfriend while they were in a custody battle over their teenage son.

Venturella is considered to be 'Homan's guy.'

Sources described him as a 'straight shooter' and 'highly competent' - and likely the frontrunner.

Two sources at DHS tell the Daily Mail that Mullin wanted to bring in  Tulsa Sheriff Vic Regaldo, who has had a 23-year career with the  from Oklahoma to lead ICE, but his idea was quickly shot down by the White House. 

One source suggested his pick isn't totally out of the running - but likely only to keep up appearances with the new director. 

'Markwayne certainly has a dog in the fight for head of ICE. But he is bringing a little chihuahua, while everyone else is bringing big dogs, like German shepherds or rottweilers,' said one source familiar with the process. 

Notably absent from the shortlist is anyone associated with the camp of Noem or  Corey Lewandowski. Sources confirm their exclusion is strictly 'by design,' highlighting a clean break from the previous regime.

While Homan focuses on the heavy lifting, Secretary Mullin is desperately trying to reshape the department's bruised public image.

In a stark departure from the fiery rhetoric that has often defined the agency, sources tell the Daily Mail that Mullin is actively pushing for a dramatic public relations pivot.

During a closed-door meeting last week, Mullin explicitly asked employees to stay away from politics at DHS, stressing a desire to roll out a 'positive PR plan' that focuses on administrative triumphs rather than 'partisan border battles.'

To ensure his softer messaging strategy takes hold, Mullin's loyalists - including Rebel Chandler, Raegan Lehman, and Kate Currie - are being quietly added to the existing public relations team.

The overall shift toward a more moderate tone may face turbulence from the agency's original leaders. 

'We're going to win them back by just focusing on the worst of the worst, and kind of toning down the rhetoric,' one source familiar with the White House strategy explained.

Whether Mullin can successfully execute even a narrow mandate remains an open question. Back in March, Homan said publicly that Mullin is inexperienced on immigration policy, noting: 'He doesn't know the immigration game very well, but he's counting on people with 30, 40 years of experience to guide him.'

Mullin is betting he can drag DHS and ICE out of the crossfire, but his efforts to soften the agency's hard-line image is his only tangible goal from the President and his advisors. 

A DHS spokesperson responded to the Daily Mail: 'This is one team, and we have one fight to secure the homeland. Secretary Mullin works closely with President Trump, Stephen Miller, and Tom Homan to deliver on the American people's mandate to remove criminal illegal aliens from this country. The results speak for themselves.'

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson tells the Daily Mail there 'are no factions.'  

'There is only one team working to implement the President’s agenda behalf on the American people. While the Daily Mail attempts to sow division, the Trump Administration is continuing to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens just like the President promised,' Jackson said.