Senate Confirms Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security Secretary Amid Department Shutdown

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as secretary of Homeland Security, installing a close ally of President Donald Trump atop the department responsible for carrying out the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Mullin was confirmed 54-45. He becomes the second person to lead the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s second term, succeeding Kristi Noem, whom the president reassigned earlier this month to a new role as special envoy for a Western Hemisphere security initiative.

Mullin, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is the first Cherokee citizen to serve in a presidential Cabinet.

Taking Over Mid-Shutdown

Mullin assumes control of the department in the middle of a funding lapse that began Feb. 14 and has left about 100,000 of its more than a quarter-million employees working without pay. The shutdown stems from a dispute in Congress over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The strain has been most visible at airports, where Transportation Security Administration officers have gone without paychecks. On the day of the vote, the administration began sending ICE agents to airports to assist screening staff.

At his confirmation hearing on March 18, Mullin, 48, urged lawmakers to fund the department as quickly as possible. “I’m not scared of a challenge. I am scared of failure, and so I will work hard each day,” he told senators. He said his goal within six months was for the department not to be “the lead story every single day.”

An Expanded Enforcement Mission

DHS has been central to Trump’s mass deportation plans. Over the past year the department has significantly expanded operations, aided by tens of billions of dollars approved by Republicans in a party-line spending law last summer. The administration has reported record-low encounters at the southwest border, curtailed legal immigration and placed a record number of people in immigration detention.

The department has also conducted surges of immigration officers in cities including Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis. The operation in Minneapolis drew national scrutiny after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents, intensifying debate in Congress over oversight of immigration enforcement.

Background

Mullin, a businessman who ran a family plumbing company before entering politics, served five terms in the U.S. House before winning a Senate seat in 2022. He has been a reliable supporter of the president’s agenda on border security.

DHS, created in 2002 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, oversees agencies including ICE, Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.