Frustrations, friendship and questions of temperament dominated the confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as the Senate sprints to confirm him to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The hearing, led by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair , R-Ky., started with a tense exchange between him and Mullin and ended with questions about whether the committee would even hold a confirmation vote.
President tapped Mullin to replace outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The Senate has little time to move through the process, given that Trump set a deadline of March 31 to have Mullin installed as the next Homeland Security chief.
Paul plans to oppose him, meaning that unless Mullin can generate support from Democrats on the panel, his nomination will be substantially slowed.
It was fast, explosive and marred by the ongoing DHS shutdown, which entered its 33rd day on Wednesday. Below are top moments from the back-and-forth that will decide whether Mullin gets the job to lead the embattled agency.
The hearing immediately opened with that Pauls 2017 assault, which left him with several broken ribs and the removal of part of his lung, was “justified.”
Paul accused Mullin of never having “the courage to look me in the eye and tell me that the assault was justified.”
“I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force,” Paul said.
Mullin shot back before launching into his opening remarks, saying Paul called him a “liar,” and argued, “everybody in this room knows that I’m very blunt and direct and to the point.”
“And if I have something to say, I’ll say it directly to your face. If you recall, back in my House days, we actually did have this conversation because of remarks that I made.”
“You were in a room. I simply addressed that,” he continued. “I said I could understand, because of the behavior you were having, that I could understand why your neighbor did what he did.”
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the panel’s top Democrat, pressed Mullin on his accusation that Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, was a “deranged individual that came in to cause max damage.”
“Could we expect those kinds of quick responses if you are confirmed as secretary?” Peters said. “Would you be â basically â were you responding as Secretary Noem, are we going to expect that same behavior all over again?”
Mullin didnt push back against Peters question.
“Those words probably should have been retracted,” Mullin said. “I shouldn’t have said that. If secretary, I wouldn’t. The investigation is ongoing.”
“And there is â like I said â there’s sometimes going to make mistakes, and I own that one. I went out there too fast. I was responding immediately without the facts,” he continued. “That’s my fault. That won’t happen as secretary.”
Sen. D-Pa., is no stranger to bucking his own party, and hell likely do it again during Mullins confirmation vote.
The pair became friendly during a congressional delegation trip and have maintained that relationship ever since.
And he recognizes that hell likely be the key vote to confirm his colleague.
“I came here and committed to come here with an open mind, and Im going to continue to do that. It’s not going to be about gotcha moments for me. My experience with you has been consistent and professionalism,” Fetterman said.
But Fetterman also took a moment to blast his party for continuing to block DHS funding and noted that he was “the only Democrat that refused to shut our DHS down.”
“Its a strange devotion. I dont understand why you would shut the entire agency down just because you want those kinds of reforms on ICE that have absolutely no impact on ICE and dont force any of those things,” Fetterm
