WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Monday 54-45 to confirm Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., crossed party lines to support the nomination.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the panel overseeing DHS, voted against Mullin after clashing with him at last week’s hearing and questioning whether a man with “anger issues” should lead agencies like ICE and Border Patrol.
Mullin takes over amid a contentious, weeks-long DHS shutdown. He succeeds Noem, who was fired by President Trump about six weeks after DHS agents shot and killed two American citizens, Rene Good and Alex Pretti, during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Democrats withheld support for DHS funding amid those raids, forcing the shutdown after Republicans rejected demands to impose new limits on ICE and Customs and Border Protection operations.
Democrats say their opposition centers on policy, not personnel, and have insisted they will not allow the funding bill to reach the 60-vote threshold unless it includes measures such as requiring agents to wear identification, removing masks, and obtaining judicial warrants for raids on private property. Mullin’s confirmation is not expected to immediately resolve the funding standoff.
The shutdown has left thousands of TSA and other DHS employees working without pay, contributed to high absenteeism and long airport security lines, and coincided with more than 400 TSA officers quitting since the shutdown began.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, defended Mullin as a courageous choice for a difficult job. But Democrats raised concerns about his transparency and temperament. Mullin has suggested familiarity with the “smell” and “taste” of war despite no military service, and he declined to provide details about a classified foreign trip he said he took in 2015, leaving Democratic senators with lingering questions after a closed briefing.
“Throughout the nomination process, he has failed to be forthright and transparent,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, adding that Mullin lacks the experience and temperament to lead DHS.
Some Democrats emphasized their objections were focused on administration policy, not personal animus. “A lot of this is just so deep to the core of the administration in terms of the problems,” said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., attributing the issues to figures like Stephen Miller and President Trump.
Mullin, 48, is a former professional mixed martial arts fighter who built wealth through his family’s plumbing business. He was elected to the House in 2012 and won a 2022 special election to the Senate to replace Jim Inhofe. Mullin is a member of the Cherokee Nation and has been a staunch Trump ally.
Heinrich, whose vote was not widely expected, called Mullin a friend and a principled voice, saying he has seen that Mullin “is not someone who can simply be bullied into changing his views” and expressing hope that the secretary will not take orders from Stephen Miller.
