Senate Confirms Markwayne Mullin as DHS Secretary
On March 19, the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) voted 8-7 to advance the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to become Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In his confirmation hearing, Sen. Mullin said FEMA should be “restructured, not eliminated.” While committing that FEMA would “adequately staffed to respond to our nation’s disasters,” Sen. Mullin said that FEMA has “a great mission, and I think people at FEMA want to do their job.” Sen. Mullin suggested that he is considering candidates for a permanent FEMA administrator, and that he would “absolutely” abolish current DHS policy that the Secretary approve all payments of more than $100,000. DHS appropriations remain lapsed since February 14, 2026.
On March 23, the full Senate voted to confirm Mullin as the head of DHS. The vote was 54-45, with Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) supporting his confirmation.
Sen. Mullin replaces DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been reassigned as Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.