Senators on the Homeland Security Committee advanced Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security in a nail-biting vote Thursday.
Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against reporting Mullin (R-Okla.) to the full Senate, but Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to support his colleague in the 8-7 vote.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the panel, was the only member to speak ahead of the vote, noting that he would reject Mullin’s nomination because he “has failed to be forthright and transparent” and lacks “the experience or the temperament” to lead the domestic law enforcement agency.
Peters also quoted from a Senate Ethics Committee finding on Mullin related to a 2023 incident in which the Oklahoma Republican offered to fight Teamsters President Sean O’Brien during a hearing.
“When offered multiple public opportunities to clarify the intent of your conduct, you declined to uphold the Senate standard,” Peters read from the finding, “and advocated physical violence as a means to resolve political disagreement.”
