Senator Markwayne Mullin is set to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing that will test his views on immigration enforcement, federal spending and national security oversight. Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma nominated to succeed outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has been a consistent supporter of President Donald Trump’s stringent immigration agenda.
Lawmakers from both parties are expected to focus on the recent tactics used by federal immigration officers, the management of the Department of Homeland Security and the stalled approval of funding that has left parts of DHS operating under a partial shutdown.
Democrats have withheld funding for DHS since mid-February, demanding that the administration scale back aggressive immigration operations. The funding stalemate followed a series of sweeping enforcement actions the administration deployed after Trump took office in 2025, when he launched an aggressive campaign to deport immigration offenders. The campaign framed many migrants as dangerous criminals, even though officials arrested numerous people without criminal records, including children and families.
Under Kristi Noem’s leadership, the administration intensified enforcement capacity by deploying federal agents into U.S. cities last year, conducting major operations in Los Angeles and Chicago. Those operations included incidents in which masked agents confronted day laborers in parking lots and officers used tear gas in neighborhoods while residents attempted to record the events. The use of what observers described as militaristic tactics led to legal challenges and drew public criticism.
The administration adjusted its public posture after a separate January incident in Minneapolis, where federal immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens. In the wake of that episode, the administration said it would adopt a more targeted approach. Nevertheless, Democrats have maintained their refusal to approve new DHS funding until the administration changes its immigration enforcement practices, leaving the department under a partial shutdown since mid-February.
President Trump dismissed Noem earlier this month amid criticism from Republican lawmakers over the immigration crackdown and her stewardship of DHS, and announced his intention to nominate Mullin to lead the department. Mullin is a businessman who previously ran a family plumbing enterprise and served roughly a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives before winning election to the U.S. Senate for a term that began in 2023.
The expedited confirmation hearing assembled by the Senate committee presents Mullin with an opportunity to outline how he would manage DHS and to respond to questions about the department’s recent operations and oversight under Noem.
Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the committee’s top Democrat, prepared remarks criticizing Noem’s public statements after the Minneapolis shootings. In those remarks, Peters said Noem had described the U.S. citizens who were killed as having “committed acts of domestic terrorism,” rather than calling for an investigation. "It’s not the role of the secretary to be a cable news commentator in the wake of a crisis," Peters said.
Mullin’s personal and financial background is likely to be examined during the hearing. A 2024 financial disclosure form reported that he held assets valued between $29 million and $97 million, making him one of the wealthier members of the Senate. Publicly available tracking of lawmakers’ trading activity showed he has engaged in millions of dollars of stock trades in recent years. Mullin’s office has said he relies on an independent firm to manage his portfolio in accordance with federal law.
Additional scrutiny may revisit events from his 2012 congressional campaign. At that time, a Democratic opponent criticized Mullin for hiring a convicted felon at his plumbing business, contending that the individual had access to firearms. The opponent also alleged the business did not use E-Verify, the federal system for confirming an employee’s legal work status. The White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said this week there was "no indication Mullin did anything inappropriate" in connection with the felon and that "none of his businesses ever employed workers without legal status."
Mullin is a member of the Cherokee Nation and, at the time of his election to the Senate, he was the fourth Native American to hold a Senate seat. The confirmation hearing is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) on Wednesday.
Context and next steps
Observers will watch the hearing for specifics on how Mullin proposes to balance enforcement priorities with oversight and civil liberties concerns, and whether his nomination could ease the partisan deadlock over DHS funding. The committee session will also probe his business record and financial disclosures as part of the standard confirmation process.