Today the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who Trump nominated to serve as the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. This is a massive job overseeing a sprawling federal agency, and it carries serious implications for Americans’ safety and security.
Unfortunately, Sen. Mullin is on record saying and doing a lot of highly questionable things, which Home of the Brave has helpfully compiled ahead of today’s hearing. These include:
Bragging about not wearing his seatbelt “because of car jacking”
Claiming Barack Obama cut Jeffrey Epstein a “sweetheart plea deal,” when the deal was actually reached under the George W. Bush administration
Attempting to snatch a fellow lawmaker’s poster out of his hand on the floor of Congress
Saying at a Congressional hearing: “How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? And don’t tell me you haven’t seen it, because I know you have.”
Saying in a Congressional hearing “I don’t want reality” while reading a children’s book out loud
Saying that killing Iran’s leader was justified because “he was never duly elected,” before admitting that he doesn’t understand how Iran’s elections work
Challenging a union leader to a fistfight in a Senate hearing
All of these statements call into question Sen. Mullin’s judgment, his seriousness, and his knowledge of the relevant issues. Think about it: Do you want the security of the homeland placed in the hands of a person who thinks, talks, and acts this way?
DHS has been in a tailspin under Kristi Noem’s leadership. We have seen an unprecedented blitz of pro-ICE propaganda, and the recruitment of 12,000 agents with dubious credentials. We have watched these agents terrorize communities while wearing masks, and we’ve watched them kill two innocent Americans in Minneapolis. We’ve seen DHS bill US taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of millions, for luxury flights and a Noem-centric ad spree. And we’ve seen core components of the agency, like CISA and FEMA, gutted and unable to fulfill their missions.
DHS is a serious agency with a serious remit. It was created after 9/11 with the mandate to safeguard Americans’ security during times of maximum threat. Secretary Noem has utterly failed to live up to this responsibility during her tenure. If his past comments are any indication, we can’t expect much better from Sen. Mullin if he is confirmed.
Home of the Brave exists to show Americans the real-world consequences of this administration’s policies, and to highlight what bravery looks like in defense of American democracy.
