WASHINGTON — A confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security turned combative Tuesday as the Oklahoma Republican faced pointed questioning about his past comments appearing to endorse political violence, unresolved questions about classified overseas travel, and the ongoing partial shutdown of DHS now entering its 32nd day.
The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee opened with an extraordinary exchange between Mullin and Chairman Rand Paul, who detailed injuries he suffered in a 2017 assault by a neighbor and confronted Mullin directly over public comments in which Mullin said he “completely understood” why Paul had been attacked.
Paul described the assault in graphic detail, six broken ribs, three of them separated, partial lung removal, and months of recovery, and asked Mullin repeatedly whether he believed violence was an acceptable way to resolve political differences. Mullin did not apologize and said he stood by his assessment of Paul’s character, though he said he did not support violence. Paul called his response “unrepentant.”
“Tell the world why you believe I deserve to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken, and a damaged lung,” Paul said. “Tell me to my face why you think I deserved it.”
Mullin pushed back, saying he had addressed those remarks previously and would not apologize for his opinion of Paul’s conduct in Congress. He said he could separate personal differences from his duties as secretary.
“It’s bigger than the partisan bickering that we have,” Mullin said. “As Secretary of Homeland, I’ll be protecting everybody, including Kentucky, as much as I will my own backyard in Oklahoma.”
Senators also pressed Mullin on public statements suggesting he had participated in classified overseas assignments. Mullin said that around 2015 and 2016, while serving in the House, he was involved in an official classified trip that only four people were read in on. He declined to provide details, citing classification, but said he would discuss the matter with committee members in a secure setting. The committee agreed to hold a classified briefing after the hearing.
Ranking Member Gary Peters raised questions about the consistency of Mullin’s account, noting that an FBI background check found no record of classified activities. Mullin maintained the trip fell under official duties and was therefore not required to be disclosed in committee paperwork.
On policy, Mullin said he regretted his early statement calling a man shot and killed by DHS officers “a deranged individual” and acknowledged he had acted without the facts. He expressed no similar regret regarding his statement calling a separate DHS shooting “absolutely” justified, saying he believed an officer faced a legitimate threat.
Mullin committed to requiring judicial warrants before entering homes and businesses except when in active pursuit of a subject. He said he would not micromanage agency spending the way his predecessor did and pledged to work with Congress on FEMA reform, ICE oversight and nonprofit security grant streamlining.
A central theme of the hearing was the partial shutdown of DHS, now in its 32nd day, leaving roughly 260,000 federal employees without pay. Republicans blamed Senate Democrats for blocking ICE funding to leverage policy concessions. Democrats argued they had repeatedly moved to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, CISA and other agencies through unanimous consent, only to be blocked by Republican objections, and said the standoff was about requiring ICE to follow the same rules as local law enforcement.
