President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security faced tough questioning Wednesday during a confirmation hearing in the Senate.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., was nominated for the job after Trump fired former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, opened the hearing by referring to Mullin’s combative persona, calling him “a person with anger issues” and asking whether a person who applauds political violence should lead the agency.
Mullin has faced criticisms in the past. In one notorious instance, Mullin, a former MMA fighter, challenged Teamsters union president Sean O’Brien to a fight during a 2023 Senate hearing. However, PBS reports that O’Brien now supports Mullin.
But it was an unauthorized trip to Afghanistan that grabbed the most attention during Wednesday’s hearing — and brought an end to public testimony.
As Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021, Mullin attempted two unauthorized entries into the country. Mullin said he was trying to rescue Americans stuck in Afghanistan. Both attempts were unsuccessful but he later posted on social media that he was “heading home” without sharing his location.
“Have we been helping get Americans out of Afghanistan? Yes,” he wrote. “Is the mission continuing? Yes. Am I missing? No. Did I go dark for a little? Yes, because it wasn’t safe to be communicating.”
He added that he was with “special forces” but did not explain which group accompanied him. Mullin also refused to provide additional details when asked during Wednesday’s hearing, saying he couldn’t say anything else in a public meeting.
Paul ended the hearing and scheduled a closed-door session for later Wednesday to discuss the incident.
If lawmakers are not satisfied with Mullin’s answers in private, Paul may cancel Thursday’s planned vote on whether to advance Mullin’s nomination to the full Senate.
What else happened during the hearing?
During his opening remarks, Mullin brought up the ongoing shutdown that is only affecting DHS. He said Congress needs to fund the department and that allowing the shutdown to continue amounted to “playing with fire,” The Associated Press reported.
“We have 280,000 employees right now that are on day 30 without pay, and they’re still showing up every single day to do their job,” Mullin said. “That is a dedicated group of people, and we should all be proud of, and we should all be working together. We should all be trying to fund them.”
In response to questions about his comments on the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Mullin apologized and said he jumped to a conclusion when he described Pretti as a “deranged individual” who was at the protest seeking to cause damage.
“I went out there too fast, I was responding immediately without the facts,” Mullin said. “That’s my fault. That won’t happen as secretary.”
During a similar exchange, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Mullin whether he regretted saying that agents involved in killing Renee Good weeks before Pretti’s shooting were “absolutely” justified. Mullin did not give a definitive answer.
“It’s very clear that an officer had to make a split decision in that case, as the car was running towards him and did strike him,” Mullin replied.
Analysis of multiple videos of the incident suggest the car did not strike the officer.
Mullin did not answer when Blumenthal repeated his question. Nor did he directly answer Blumenthal’s question about whether he supported an investigation into Good’s death.
“My understanding is that there is,” Mullin said. “I will find out once if I’m able to get confirmed.”
Who is Markwayne Mullin?
Mullin was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 and served for a decade before winning his Senate seat in 2022. During his time in the Senate, Mullin has become known as a middleman, or arbiter between the two parties, CBS News reports. Mullin is also a frequent defender of the president.
Before he entered politics, Mullin took over his father’s plumbing business, turning it into a successful company. Mullin has since sold the plumbing business. He also owns a rental property business in his home state.
