WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to lead the Department of Homeland Security amid a growing crisis within the agency over immigration enforcement, which has resulted in a partial shutdown of the department and chaos at airports nationwide.
The Senate backed Mullin by a vote of 54-45, with Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico joining every Republican but one ― Rand Paul of Kentucky ― in favor of his confirmation.
Trump tapped Mullin, a first-term senator, to replace Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary earlier this month after bipartisan outrage over Noem’s tenure at DHS, including a scandal-ridden $220 million, self-promoting ad campaign. Trump himself was said to be angry with Noem after she testified before Congress that the president had personally approved her ads.
Mullin vowed to take a different approach during his confirmation hearing last week, promising to work across the aisle and implement a “softer tone” on immigration in the wake of Noem’s often-violent crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota and elsewhere around the country.
“My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day,” Mullin told his Senate colleagues, promising to “set the partisan side down” to deal with urgent issues, including securing funding for DHS.
