The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as its new secretary in a vote of 54-45 on Monday night.
Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., joined Republicans in confirming Mullin, though Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who oversees the Senate Homeland Security Committee, voted against Mullin after clashing with him during last week’s confirmation hearing.
Mullin is taking the helm of DHS amid a funding shutdown that has lasted just over five weeks now. Appropriations talks have continued to stall while Republicans and Democrats remain locked in a standoff tied to immigration policy disputes.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump fired former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
During his confirmation hearing in front of the Homeland Security Committee last week, Mullin told lawmakers that he would aim to ensure that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is fully staffed with people who “want to be there, that want to deliver the mission.”
Mullin’s descriptions of CISA’s workforce mirrored comments made by the agency’s former acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala – who left that role earlier this month – who told lawmakers in January that CISA was focused on acquiring “the right workforce, not a larger one, but a more capable and a skilled one.”
In his comments before lawmakers, Mullin said that CISA will be “staffed adequately if we can find the right people to staff or to make sure that we’re mission capable.”
Most DHS employees are currently working without pay. At CISA, Gottumukkala said last month that more than a third of CISA’s employees would be required to continue working without pay. As of Monday, the House Appropriations Committee said that more than 100,000 DHS employees have missed full paychecks.
It is unclear whether Mullin’s confirmation will speed efforts to reach an agreement on a DHS funding bill.
Mullin first served as a representative for Oklahoma in the House from 2013 to 2023. He was later elected as a senator in a special election held in November 2022 and joined the U.S. Senate in January 2023. He is also a member of the Cherokee Nation and the first indigenous leader of DHS.