A Senate committee on Thursday voted to send Senator Markwayne Mullin's nomination for homeland security secretary to the full Senate, moving the nomination forward despite public criticism and a negative vote from the panel's Republican chairman.
The committee's action sends President Donald Trump's choice to the Republican-controlled Senate, where Mullin will require a majority vote for confirmation. The nomination comes after Trump dismissed embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this month following criticism from Republican lawmakers over her handling of the administration's aggressive immigration enforcement and her management of the 260,000-person department.
Trump nominated Mullin - a businessman who served about a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming a senator in 2023 - to lead the Department of Homeland Security. His confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee took place on Wednesday and included pointed scrutiny from members of both parties.
Republican Chairman Rand Paul sharply criticized Mullin during the hearing, citing violent statements Mullin had made and pointing to Mullin's public support for a man who attacked Paul in 2017. After the hearing, Paul said he would oppose Mullin's nomination and recorded a vote against advancing the nomination even as the committee voted to do so.
If the Senate confirms Mullin, he would be the second Native American to serve in a Cabinet-level role; Mullin is a member of the Cherokee Nation. During the hearing, Mullin indicated he would diverge from some policies of his predecessor.
Mullin said he would change how federal immigration officers are authorized to enter private residences. The Trump administration issued an internal policy last year stating that federal immigration officers could enter private homes without a judicial warrant - a policy that Democrats and civil rights organizations have opposed. Mullin told the committee that under his leadership, officials would need a judicial warrant to enter a home or business unless they were actively pursuing someone into the building.
The nominee also pledged to reverse a Noem-era rule that required the secretary to personally approve any Department of Homeland Security contracts over $100,000. That policy drew criticism for contributing to delays in disaster recovery grant distribution. "That's called micromanaging," Mullin said. "I don't know if the secretary put that in or someone else did. I'm not a micromanager."
Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan told Mullin that broader reforms are necessary to restore confidence in how the department operates. "The trust is gone, and not just with Democrats," she said to Mullin during Wednesday's hearing. "That's why we're here. That's why your predecessor was fired. And there needs to be fundamental reform."
The hearing and the committee vote come against a backdrop of intensified federal immigration operations that began in mid-2025, when the administration surged federal agents into several U.S. cities to make immigration arrests. Major operations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis involved masked officers and tactics described as militaristic, prompting legal challenges and public criticism. Support for the administration's approach declined as agents clashed with city residents and following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by agents in Minneapolis, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling cited at the hearing.
With the committee's endorsement complete, Mullin's nomination now awaits a full Senate vote where the outcome will hinge on whether he can secure a majority amid lingering concerns voiced on both sides of the aisle.