Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) was officially confirmed as the next Department of Homeland Security secretary on Monday evening, replacing former Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired after a scandal-plagued tenure.
The Oklahoma Republican is taking the helm at DHS amid a partial government shutdown, with Congress struggling to strike a deal to fund the government as Democrats push for reforms to ICE and border patrol.
Two Democrats — Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) — bucked party lines and supported Mullin on the floor, while Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul (Ky.) voted against the Oklahoma Republican.
Lawmakers have expressed optimism that Mullin's confirmation will help move them closer to a deal to reopen the government, with talks expected to resume as he takes on his new role.
The confirmation hearing got off to a rocky start when Paul, whom Mullin had previously called a "freakin' snake," confronted the nominee over Mullin's remarks suggesting he understood why Paul had once been assaulted by a neighbor.
Mullin was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 at age 35, representing Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District. He served five House terms before winning a special election in 2022 to fill the Senate seat vacated by former Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), making the jump to the upper chamber at age 45.
Mullin garnered national attention in 2021 when he launched a self-funded mission to Tajikistan in an attempt to evacuate an American family stranded in Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal.
Prior to entering politics, he ran his family's plumbing business and competed briefly as a professional MMA fighter.
Mullin is set to inherit one of Washington's most complex portfolios, leading a department of more than 260,000 employees responsible for border security, immigration enforcement, disaster response, airport security and cybersecurity.
Mullin will take over for Noem, who became the first Cabinet secretary fired in Trump's second term after a bruising congressional hearing earlier this month. Lawmakers from both parties grilled Noem over a $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign urging people in the country illegally to self-deport, with ads that prominently featured Noem. The fatal blow came when Noem told senators that Trump had personally approved the spending, a claim the White House denied.
An administration official later said her ouster was the result of "unfortunate leadership failures," including staff mismanagement and constant feuding within the department.
Lawmakers also questioned Noem about Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump political operative she brought into the department as a special adviser and whom some officials described as a de facto chief of staff despite holding no formal Senate-confirmed role. When asked directly about a widely reported alleged affair with Lewandowski — both of whom are married to other people — Noem dismissed the line of questioning as "tabloid garbage" without issuing a direct denial.
