The US Senate has recently voted on approving Senator Markwayne Mullin to be the country’s new head of the Department of Homeland Security. The 54-45 vote was the final step in to swear him in through a rapid approval process. Now, the former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter will be in charge of overseeing the nation’s immigration enforcement, border protection, and airport security. He was first nominated earlier this month by President Donald Trump after removing former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from the position.
Although past immigration enforcement blunders have deprived much of its services of funding, the DHS remains central to Trump’s immigration promises. As such, Mullin has been steadfast on being complimentary to the administration’s signature promise of cracking down on undocumented immigrants. After being nominated at the beginning of the month, Mullin has promised a “better approach” to immigration enforcement and, despite recent criticism of the Homeland Security department, also promised he would be “protecting everybody” as leader.
Out of all the Republican senators, only Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who leads the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, voted against Mullin’s confirmation. During the hearing, Paul questioned Mullin on if someone who applauds political violence could be the right person to lead the department. This comment was in regard to Mullin having once stated he understood why one of Paul’s neighbors had attacked him, which Paul offered him the chance to apologize for, and Mullin ignored.
The Oklahoma senator was also pressed by Democrats during the hearing due to comments he has made about Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old man who was shot and killed in January by federal immigration officials. Mullin had gone on record to say previously that he believed Pretti was deranged and was attempting to do maximum damage when he approached federal agents. When pressed during his hearing, he claimed he regretted his comments but would not apologize for the comments until further investigation into it was done.
However, he did add he would refrain from making such comments as Homeland Security secretary. “I can have different opinions from everybody in this room, but as secretary of homeland I’ll be protecting everybody,” Mullin added. “My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.”
His confirmation comes during the department’s funding impasse, which the Trump administration is blaming on Democrats, who have declined to pass funding without immigration reforms. When speaking on shutdown, Mullin commented that “we have to realize that we’re putting our homeland and peace of mind at risk for the American people.”
The final thing he was grilled on prior to the decision was what Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would look like under him, to which he replied he has intentions to make it “very clear” to Homeland Security staff that judicial warrants will be must-haves to enter properties unless agents are actively pursuing someone inside.
