On March 18, Senator Markwayne Mullin will sit for his confirmation hearing, ready to replace Kristi Noem at the helm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Beyond Capitol Hill and Oklahoma, one might say the Republican is not exactly a household name. But he has been around for a while now and, while he’s certainly a member of Team MAGA, he is not someone from whom Democrats recoil in horror.
Who is Markwayne Mullin, other than a Republican senator from Oklahoma? He is a man who originally expressed distaste for the idea of making a career of public service. That’s a vote-getter, after all, since in America today, a career in “public service” means all kinds of financial perks with little accountability. Yet, Mullin, despite an original campaign pledge to serve no more than three terms, remained in the House of Representatives for five terms before running for a Senate seat.
Markwayne Mullin Unfiltered
Still, Markwayne Mullin isn’t quite the establishment politician. A former mixed martial arts fighter, he is known for his unfiltered takes on various issues. He is a Trump man, but willing to reach across the aisle. For that reason, his confirmation hearing – like so many others – is likely to be more of a grandstanding effort, playing to the cameras before his nomination is confirmed.
Adding some color to his biography, Mullin is a father of six, a former plumber, and an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. And once during a congressional hearing, he challenged one of the witnesses, a union leader, to a fist fight. So, he has that going for him.
Probably the most memorable moment of his senatorial career came during a hearing with then-Surgeon General nominee Casey Means. As Markwayne Mullin bemoaned the unaffordability of healthcare, he at one point acknowledged that he had “ranted too long.” Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions interjected with “yes you did,” cutting Mullin off mid-sentence. That turned out to be unwise. Mullin blasted Sanders:
“I’m sorry, I didn’t ask your opinion on that – and if I cared about your opinion, I would ask you, but I don’t care about your opinion. You’re part of the system. You’re part of the problem. You’ve been sitting here longer than I’ve even been alive. This is your problem. You should have fixed this a long time ago.”
Having inherited his father’s plumbing business at a young age, Mullin became frustrated with government bureaucracy as he created other businesses. He claims that’s what inspired him to run for office. During a 2013 interview, Mullin said, “I got fed up with the fact that my biggest threat, to our way of life, is the federal government. I can’t keep up with the amount of regulations.”
Yet, like almost everyone else in Congress, Mullin’s net worth has grown considerably since he first set foot on Capitol Hill. The New York Times, predictably eager to find fault with a Trump cabinet nominee while ignoring the accumulation of massive wealth by several prominent congressional Democrats, reports that the money comes from investments. “His assets were worth between $29 million and $97 million in 2024, according to his financial disclosure forms,” the paper says, “compared with $2.8 million to $9 million in 2012.”
Responding to President Donald Trump’s announcement on March 5 that he had tapped Mullin to replace the besieged Noem at DHS, Mullin wrote in part on the X platform, "I am grateful to President Trump for nominating me to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the Senate and carrying out President Trump’s mission alongside the department’s many capable agencies and the thousands of patriots who keep us safe every day.”
The Senator has his work cut out for him. DHS is currently the center of attention on the home front. Democrats continue to block funding for the department responsible for executing Trump’s mass deportation of illegal aliens. Markwayne Mullin has something of a reputation – despite his somewhat brash and unfiltered manner – for forging alliances both across the aisle in the Senate and over to the House. He will need all of that diplomatic talent, and perhaps a few chokeholds, to get things back on track at Homeland.
