Overview
- The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination 8–7, with Chair Rand Paul voting no and Sen. John Fetterman providing the lone Democratic yes.
- Paul pressed Mullin over past remarks about a 2017 assault on Paul and questioned his temperament; Mullin declined to apologize, saying he did not support the attack but had said he understood it.
- Mullin told senators he would require judge-signed warrants for most ICE entries into homes or businesses except in limited circumstances, and he said he would seek to restructure FEMA.
- Under questioning about vague past claims of a classified overseas trip, Mullin agreed to brief senators in a secure setting on details he would not discuss publicly.
- The confirmation push unfolds during a DHS funding lapse that has left many employees working without pay and slowed airport security lines, with ongoing oversight reviews of prior contracting and enforcement controversies.