Oklahoma Republican Markwayne Mullin has Pennsylvania “Democrat” John Fetterman to thank for advancing him to the full Senate vote for his DHS Secretary nomination.
Needing a simple majority from the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Mullin’s nomination advanced out of Senate Homeland Security Committee by a vote of 8-7.
Republicans hold a one seat majority on the committee, and with Rand Paul’s no vote, Fetterman was the lone Democrat to join Republicans in advancing Mullin to a full vote. Mullin again needs a simple majority of the full Senate vote for confirmation. Mullin would then lead 260,000 federal employees, including ICE, TSA, and the Coast Guard.
Rand Paul voted no after confronting Mullin on his “understanding” of the attack on Paul by Paul’s neighbor. Mullin also called Paul a “snake.” Paul also highlighted Mullin’s threat to physically attack a witness in a different hearing in 2023. Mullin refused to apologize for any of it, and Paul voted no, citing Mullin’s temperament and character for the job.
From Fetterman:
“I know there’s a lot of hard personal feelings here, and absolutely I would, I — It’s terrible, what’s happened and political violence, I mean, it’s, it’s rampant so now. But also, also President O’Brien’s here, not for round two. He’s here because he fully supports your … so it’s about, it’s about letting it go and moving on,” Fetterman said, referencing President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien – the witness at the 2023 hearing.
Senator Gary Peters also tried to figure out what Mullin was referring to regarding a classified government trip, and whether this is where Mullin “smelled” what war was like.