It’s official: The United States Senate has voted for Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace Kristi Noem as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, making him the newest member of the Donald Trump administration.
The Senate vote, which was 54 to 45, was largely along party lines. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against his nomination, making him the only Republican to do so, while Senators John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) voted in favor of Mullin. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) did not vote at all.
BREAKING: The Senate just voted 54-45 to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as DHS Secretary.
Applause & cheers break out.
The only Republican no vote was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
The only two Democrats to vote yes were Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) & Sen. Martin Heinrich…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 24, 2026
The chamber erupted into loud cheers and applause after the votes were counted and announced.
🚨 IT’S OFFICIAL: Markwayne Mullin has just been CONFIRMED as President Trump’s DHS Secretary in a 54-45 vote
The Democrats who crossed over:
– John Fetterman (PA)
– Martin Heinrich (NM)RAND PAUL (R-KY) voted against
The chamber ERUPTED in applause! pic.twitter.com/4yuOAVIksD
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 24, 2026
If you’ll recall, last week, during Mullin’s hearing, Paul accused him of having “anger issues” and said he didn’t think he’d set a good example for the law enforcement officials — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents — he would oversee as part of the position.
Mullin was chosen by Trump after the president dismissed Noem from her duties earlier this month. The junior senator from Oklahoma has been a staunch Trump supporter from day one.
Mullin is a Tusla, Oklahoma, native and member of the Cherokee Nation. In high school, he was a wrestler, which earned him a scholarship to Missouri Valley College. Unfortunately, while he was in college, his father’s health declined, and he had to drop out to take over the family business. He eventually earned an associate degree in applied science in plumbing from the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology.
When he took over his father’s business, it only had a handful of employees. Within a decade and a half, he’d grown it to become the largest plumbing company in Oklahoma. Mullin eventually went on to start or own several other businesses He and his wife have six children, including two they adopted. And I didn’t know this until just now, but Mullin was professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter for a while.
His lack of formal education is something Democrats have held against him, but quite frankly, I’d take the MMA guy who can grow a business like that over any Democrat with 50 degrees every day of the week.
Mullin will have his work cut out for him at DHS. The agency is currently shut down due to the Democrats in Congress’ inability to act like adults.
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