Trump DHS pick Markwayne Mullin will appear before senators for his confirmation hearing

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., arrives before Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin presents President Donald Trump with a bowl of shamrocks during a St. Patrick's Day event in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 2026-03-18T11:03:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Markwayne Mullin , President Donald Trump’s pick for Homeland Security secretary, appears before senators on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing and will face questions over his vision for a department tasked with carrying out the Republican administration’s push for mass deportations. Mullin, an Oklahoma senator, has spent 13 years in Congress and has emerged as a close ally of the president’s. If confirmed, he would replace outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem , who was fired earlier this month amid mounting criticism of her leadership of the Department of Homeland Security. The hearing will be the first opportunity for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from Mullin about how he intends to run the third-largest department in the Cabinet. The sprawling department, with a workforce of roughly 260,000 employees, oversees a diverse mission set of responsibilities ranging from protecting the president from a bullet to helping states recover from disasters to deporting people in the country illegally . Mullin is a former mixed martial arts fighter who ran a plumbing business in Oklahoma before running for Congress. He has in the past indicated support for immigration operations, and he’s expected to be a faithful ally for Trump’s agenda if he is confirmed for the top job at DHS. “Whether it be protecting the homeland from bad actors, stopping dangerous drugs from flowing into American communities, or removing the worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullin will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an emailed statement Tuesday. The president’s immigration a

原文链接: AP News