Senate Confirms Mullin To Be Dhs Chief

The Senate voted Monday to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to be the next Homeland Security secretary, thrusting the first-term Republican into the leadership of a department in crisis.

The 54-45 vote mostly fell along party lines. All Republicans except for Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted to confirm their colleague. Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico voted to confirm Mullin.

Paul’s vote against Mullin was expected, as was Fetterman’s vote for him.

Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sparred with Mullin at his tense confirmation hearing last week over past disparaging comments Mullin made about the Kentucky Republican. Mullin also faced questions from Paul and Democrats on the committee about “special missions” he claimed to have taken on behalf of the U.S. government during his service in the House.

Fetterman had pledged his support for Mullin previously and voted to advance his nomination out of the Homeland Security Committee. Heinrich announced over the weekend that he would vote for him despite disagreements on policy, calling Mullin a friend.

The brawny senator, a former MMA fighter who owns a major plumbing company and served several terms in the House, now takes on one of the most challenging roles in the second Trump administration.

Mullin, who has never served on a committee with oversight of DHS or consistently worked on immigration issues, is taking the helm of a department under fire on multiple fronts. Polling shows Americans broadly disapprove of President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on unauthorized immigration, and the department — the locus of immigration enforcement operations — is paralyzed amid a shutdown of the agency that has lasted more than month.

Mullin’s immediate replacement in the Senate will be appointed by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who has sparred with the White House previously. Stitt’s pick will serve in the Senate until November, as whoever Stitt nominates is barred under Oklahoma law from running in the Nov. 3 special election for the seat.

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), who previously chaired the influential Republican Study Committee, is running to replace Mullin and has amassed significant early support in the deep-red state. November’s winner will face voters again in 2028 after Mullin’s original term elapses, should he or she choose to run for reelection.

Republicans have expressed hope that Mullin will turn the page at the department from the divisive tenure of his predecessor, Secretary Kristi Noem, whom some in Trump’s party have blamed for tarnishing what was a winning political issue for the president.

Trump reassigned Noem to a role as a special envoy focused on security cooperation in the Western Hemisphere after she received bipartisan criticism for her inflammatory response after immigration officers in January shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, and for her broader stewardship of a historic influx of funds into DHS as part of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill last year.

Trump ultimately removed Noem from her post after she said in a Senate Judiciary hearing earlier this month that Trump personally approved a $220 million advertising campaign around self-deportations critics decried as a publicity stunt to boost Noem personally.

At his confirmation hearing, Mullin made several pledges aimed at addressing criticisms of Noem’s leadership. He promised that he would nix a Noem policy which had the secretary personally review Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts worth more than $100,000 — which he called “micromanagement.”

He also said that ICE agents will only be allowed to enter homes with an administrative warrant, which is not signed by a judge, in extremely exigent circumstances. Those statements represent a much more conciliatory position than that of the White House, which has insisted the widespread use of administrative warrants to enter homes is permitted under law.

Mullin also said he would improve communication with Congress and move to ensure DHS “isn’t in the lead story” every single day.

Democrats, however, have expressed doubts Mullin will approach immigration enforcement any differently than Noem, given the considerable influence of Trump adviser Stephen Miller over immigration policy. After the hearing where Mullin and Paul sparred, some Democrats also openly questioned whether Mullin has the right temperament to lead DHS, arguing he is too prone to anger.

The partisan tensions around DHS will also test Mullin’s bona fides as a dealmaker and relationship-builder in Washington. The senator, just three years into his term, had gained a reputation as a “whisperer” who could mediate between both chambers of Congress, as well as between the White House and Capitol Hill. Mullin has a personal friendship with Trump, who Mullin has said took particular interest in his son’s recovery from a major brain injury in 2020.

Those skills will quickly be put to the test in resolving a major funding impasse that has left DHS without funding. Following the Minneapolis shootings, Democrats have called for changes at the nation’s immigration enforcement agencies — chiefly ICE and Customs and Border Protection — including more training for officers, a requirement for visible identification and restrictions on the warrants they need to enter homes and residences.

Pressure is rising for lawmakers to reach a deal, as the number of Transportation Security Agency personnel resigning increases as they miss additional paychecks. Over the weekend, Trump said he would send ICE agents to airports across the country to ameliorate staffing shortages. ICE officers, who Trump said should be unmasked, are at roughly a dozen major U.S. airports as of Monday.

The White House insists that some policies are non-negotiable, including allowing officers to use masks in the field if they fear they may be doxxed by activist groups.