Mullin survives bruising hearing with Dem help, inches one step closer to becoming next DHS chief
A Senate Democrat proved the decisive vote to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to the next round of his confirmation journey after an explosive hearing.
That’s because Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, vowed not to support Mullin, whom he contended was "unfit" for the role.
Mullin countered that if he had a problem with somebody, he would say it to their face. More so, he hoped to prove to Paul and Senate Democrats on the panel that he was the right pick for the job.
"I’m going to earn the job, I won’t fail you," Mullin said. "I won’t back down from a challenge. And I’ll also admit when I’m wrong. I’m not perfect. I don’t claim to be perfect. I make mistakes just like anybody else. But mistakes, if you own them, you can learn from them and you can move ahead. And I’ll make that commitment to you."
And, like several times on the Senate floor, Paul and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., switched positions on their votes. Fetterman was the only Democrat on the panel to back Mullin, and without his vote, Republicans’ plans to sprint through the confirmation process would have been dealt a stiff blow.
Fetterman acknowledged that he could be the difference-maker after the hearing.
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"I came here and committed to come here with an open mind, and I’m going to continue to do that," Fetterman said. "It’s not going to be about gotcha moments for me. My experience with you has been consistent and professional."
Mullin’s confirmation to become the next Department of Homeland Security secretary will now head to the Senate floor in the coming days and will require just a simple majority vote for him to be given the green light for the position.
But several Senate Democrats may not support him because of the ongoing fight over the DHS shutdown. Democrats have demanded stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) throughout the shutdown battle.
"I will not be supporting Sen. Mullin’s nomination should it come before the Senate," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "The problems at DHS, especially at ICE and CBP, run far deeper than just who is in charge."
Still, Mullin survived a sometimes jovial, sometimes grueling back-and-forth during the hearing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., believed that once out of committee, Mullin would have broad support across the Senate.
"Obviously, [Wednesday’s] hearing sounds like it got a little spicy at times," Thune said. "But at the end of the day, it comes back to the job, and it comes back to the right person for the job. And I think that Markwayne is the right person."
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Thursday’s vote nearly didn’t happen, however, after Paul and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the top-ranking Democrat on the panel, clashed over travel the lawmaker took years ago.
The duo wanted to meet and hear about the travel, which Mullin said happened while he was still in the House but couldn’t be detailed publicly, in a classified setting. Ultimately, Paul didn’t even go to the classified meeting.
A spokesperson for Paul told Fox News Digital that the lawmaker already knew how he was going to vote but wanted to facilitate the classified meeting to "make sure everyone else got the information they needed."
And while the personal rancor between Paul and Mullin was explosive, it was not enough to sink his chances of becoming the next DHS chief.
Paul said he would not support Mullin ahead of the confirmation vote, in part because he wouldn’t apologize for saying that the assault on Paul by a neighbor in 2017 was "justified." He argued that Mullin’s inability to apologize, along with his previous outburst during a hearing with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, showed he lacked the mindset needed to lead DHS.
"We’re in the midst, I think, of a crisis where there needs to be more direction from the top," Paul said. "And a guy who brawls, a guy who can’t even say he’s sorry about wishing violence on me and really applauding the attack that happened on me — can’t come to say that. I don’t know how he could, from my point of view, be a leader of ICE or Border Patrol."