Markwayne Mullin confirmed as the next DHS Secretary - Abolish Capital!
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ICT Staff WASHINGTON — A Native American will lead the Department of Homeland
Security for the first time in American history. The U.S. Senate confirmed in a
54-45 vote Monday evening that Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, will be
the 9th Secretary of Homeland Security. This makes Mullin the second Native
American to lead a cabinet agency and the third Native person to be in the
president’s cabinet. He follows in the footsteps of previous Native Americans in
the presidential cabinet: former Vice President Charles Curtis, Kaw Nation,
under former President Herbert Hoover and former U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb
Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, under the Biden administration for four years. Mullin,
Republican, became the first Native American man to serve in the U.S. Senate
since the late Ben Knighthorse Campbell, who served as Colorado’s senator from
1993 to 2005. He will lead the third largest cabinet department of more than
260,000 employees. It was established in 2002 as a cabinet-level agency after
the 9/11 attacks. The Homeland Security Act by Congress combined 22 federal
departments and agencies to “safeguard the country against terrorism and respond
to any future attacks.” These 22 departments under DHS include: Federal
Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S.
Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service and more
[https://www.dhs.gov/who-joined-dhs]. Mullin’s nomination has impacted politics
in Oklahoma. With an empty Senate seat, Gov. Kevin Stitt, Cherokee, will be
appointing someone to fill that seat until the special election takes place
later this year. It’s been reported that Stitt is likely to nominate Alan
Armstrong who is chairman of an oil and gas company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, OK-1, previously announced that he would be running for
the open Senate seat. In the past T.W. Shannon, Chickasaw, has run for open
Senate seats in Oklahoma. Political pundit Mike Stopp, Cherokee, speculated that
Shannon might run for the open Senate seat. However, he continues to campaign
for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s congressional district 1 is
essentially the city of Tulsa. The district also includes the intersection of
Osage, Cherokee and Muscogee tribal lands. In 2024, Democratic candidate Dennis
Baker, Euchee and Muscogee, faced Hern in the general election. Hern won with 60
percent of the votes. A Democratic challenge would be difficult in the solidly
Republican district. Hern had no Republican opponents in the last two primary
elections. His choice to run for the Senate opens up this race for a new
Republican candidate. While the confirmation vote was largely along party-lines,
two Democratic senators voted to confirm Mullin, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. “This is going to surprise some people, but I
consider Markwayne Mullin a friend. We have a very honest and constructive
working relationship. We have authored legislation together, such as the Tribal
Buffalo Management Act, and we crafted the Legislative Branch Appropriations
bill together this year. We often disagree and when we do, we work to find
whatever common ground we share,” Heinrich said in a press release on Sunday.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul, from Kentucky, voted against Mullin’s nomination at
both the committee hearing and full Senate vote. Later saying that Mullin has
anger issues. After Mullin’s nomination, Haaland told ICT she hopes “he can
bring some calm” after what has been happening in the country for the last
several months. She also hopes he implements “what our ancestors have taught
us,” including “to respect people, to be kind, all of those things. I hope that
that will happen and I’m sure it will under his leadership,” she said. Mullin
has tried to make the case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous
tenure of Kristi Noem, Trump’s first DHS secretary. Mullin’s predecessor In both
roles as South Dakota governor and DHS secretary, Noem has maintained a
complicated and often tumultuous relationship with tribal nations. She was
banned from entering every single one of the nine reservations in South Dakota
in 2024. She has since been unbanished by at least two of the state’s nine
tribes. As DHS Secretary, Noem continued to spark controversy with tribal
leaders as immigration agents raided cities across America and on multiple
occasions swept up citizens and descendants of federally recognized tribes.
Several tribes passed resolutions to ban immigration agents from their lands
following this controversy. In March, Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary
Committee concerning Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. Noem reported that only
18 Americans have been detained by ICE, a claim that senators pushed back on,
referencing a ProPublica report prior to Operation Metro Surge that detailed
more than 100 Americans who had been detained. Noem’s departure from DHS
secretary was announced shortly after her senate hearing concluded. Cleaning up
Mullin has quite a list of DHS issues to tackle after he is sworn into office
which includes immigration enforcement, the department’s funding, and
Transportation Security Administration. Trump made clear on Sunday that he was
going ahead with the plan to have immigration enforcement officers assist TSA by
guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund
the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats are demanding major changes to
federal immigration operations and show no signs of backing down. Hundreds of
thousands of homeland security workers, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret
Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew
DHS funding last month. “Bad idea,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about
the new airport security plan, which Trump said would start Monday. “What we
need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved, we need to get the TSA
agents paid,” she told reporters at the Capitol, where the Senate held a rare
weekend session. “Do you really want to have even additional tensions on top of
what we are already facing?” Mullin’s swearing-in ceremony has yet to be
announced. This is a developing story. Follow ICT for updates. The Associated
Press contributed to this report. The post Markwayne Mullin confirmed as the
next DHS Secretary
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