Mullin was confirmed 54-45 with support from two Democrats — Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) — and nearly all Republicans. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who clashed last week with Mullin at his confirmation hearing and described the nominee as unfit for the job over accusations of promoting political violence, was the lone Republican to oppose.
Mullin will replace Noem, who will become the president’s special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, after Trump soured on her handling of DHS amid scrutiny of expensive ad campaigns featuring herself speaking about the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
“It’s a tough assignment, made all the more challenging right now by Democrats having shut down DHS for five weeks,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on the Senate floor.
In between the partisan blame game over the shutdown that began Feb. 14, both parties and White House border czar Tom Homan held meetings over the weekend in hopes of inching closer to a deal on Democratic changes to immigration enforcement after the killing of two citizen protesters in Minnesota earlier this year. But as of Monday, the two sides remained at odds, even as security lines at airports grew to hours in length because of Transportation Security Administration personnel absences due to lack of pay.
HOW MARKWAYNE MULLIN WOULD LEAD DHS DIFFERENTLY THAN KRISTI NOEM
“We had some constructive conversations, but there’s considerably more work to be done, and Democrats are ready to keep negotiating,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in floor remarks.
Thune, later speaking to reporters, questioned “whether or not Democrats actually want a solution to fund the government.” He is considering cancelling a two-week Easter recess that’s set to start next week if DHS remains shut down.
