A razor-thin committee vote pushed Markwayne Mullin one step closer to leading the Department of Homeland Security — thanks in part to unexpected support from across the aisle.
According to the New York Post, during a closely watched hearing on Thursday, John Fetterman sided with Republicans to advance Mullin’s nomination out of committee, helping secure an 8-7 vote in favor. Every other member voted along party lines.
The outcome came despite opposition from Rand Paul, the committee’s Republican chairman, who voted against sending Mullin to the full Senate. With the narrow victory, Mullin’s nomination now heads toward a final confirmation vote.
John Thune said a full Senate vote could happen “hopefully early next week.”
Democrats on the panel remained sharply critical. Gary Peters, the committee’s top Democrat, argued Mullin lacks the qualifications needed for the role.
“He has failed to be forthright and transparent” and does not have “the experience or the temperament” to lead the agency, Peters said ahead of the vote.
He also cited a Senate Ethics Committee finding tied to a 2023 confrontation in which Mullin challenged Teamsters president Sean O’Brien to a fight during a hearing.
“When offered multiple public opportunities to clarify the intent of your conduct, you declined to uphold the Senate standard,” Peters read, “and advocated physical violence as a means to resolve political disagreement.”
Tensions had already boiled over earlier in the proceedings. Paul blasted Mullin for showing “no regrets” over past remarks, including comments related to a 2017 assault against Paul.
“We just don’t get along,” Mullin responded. “That doesn’t keep me at all from doing my job. I can have differences of opinion with everybody in this room, but as Secretary of Homeland, I’ll be protecting everybody — including Kentucky as much as my own backyard in Oklahoma.”
“I’ve worked with many people in this room. It seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us,” Mullin added. “And as far as me saying that I invoke violence … I don’t think anybody should be hit by surprise. I don’t like that.”
Fetterman, however, struck a different tone. He pointed to a personal rapport with Mullin, praising his conduct behind the scenes.
“Even before you got the call for the big job, we were even discussing about getting together and having dinner as family,” Fetterman said. “So, that’s an ongoing relationship, because that’s also part of the fact [that] here in this town, you gotta get along and find a way to work together, and now we have to come at it and just let things go in the past.”
Lawmakers also pressed Mullin over a previously undisclosed overseas trip during his time in the House. Mullin declined to provide details, citing its classified nature.
“I’ve never spoken specifically on details, on dates, or on the mission,” he said. “And like I said, that was an official trip that is classified.”
Following the exchange, Mullin met privately with Peters and James Lankford in a secure setting to discuss the matter further.
