The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to support Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) nomination as Department of Homeland Security secretary on Thursday morning.
The Republican committee chair, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), voted against Mullin’s nomination, as he said he would after the hearing yesterday. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) supported it. The vote means Mullin has cleared the first and most significant hurdle towards becoming the leader of the department that is currently shutdown as Republicans largely refuse to engage in Immigration and Customs Enforcement reform discussions with Democrats.
Paul made his opposition to Mullin’s nomination clear during the hearing yesterday.
During his opening remarks, Paul tore into Mullin for a past comment the Oklahoma senator had apparently made about Paul not long after the two had met. Paul claimed that Mullin said that he “understood” why Paul’s neighbor had attacked him in 2017, a reference to an assault that took place when Paul’s neighbor tackled him in his yard during President Trump’s first term. Paul suffered broken ribs and serious lung injuries. His neighbor was sentenced to a little less than a year in prison for the incident.
Throughout the hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Mullin was mostly unapologetic toward Paul — both for his remarks about the violence that Paul was subjected to and his belief that Paul, the committee chair, was using the hearing to engage in “character assassination.” Paul, at one point, told Mullin that he thought he had “low impulse control” and a strong “pattern” of “machismo” that’s not suitable for the Department of Homeland Security leadership position. Paul also joined with his Democratic colleagues to question Mullin about supposed classified trips that Mullin claims he took while serving in the House. After discussion with Mullin, a Republican senator later yesterday seemed to suggest the trips were covered by an NDA, raising more questions than answers.
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America has no shortage of complete meatheads.
I would hope Markwayne would die of embarrassment, but I doubt he has any shame.
Markwayne did absolutely no preparation for this hearing, but I’m resigned to Senate Brain overwhelming the obvious solution of not confirming this rodeo clown.
@eldonlazar He doesn’t have any self-preservation instinct, either, since he’s willingly climbing aboard a sinking ship.
He will be confirmed because he is a Senator. Senators just aren’t denied in these circumstances. The fact is he has no relevant experience in law enforcement or running complex organizations. For me the real question is how does he get along with his boss-Stephen Miller?. Does he have any independence?
And if you watch these “hearings” prepare to be depressed. “Suffering fools” and getting past the noise is important to personal progress and survival. And you already know that. Beware!