Who is Markwayne Mullin, the New Homeland Security Secretary?

Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma senator and former mixed martial arts fighter, is poised to take on a far different arena after President Donald Trump selected him to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security,” President Donald Trump wrote March 5 on Truth Social. He added that the current Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, will take on a new role as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

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Mullin is appearing before senators on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing, where Democrats are expected to press him on how he would manage the Administration’s hard-line immigration policies.

Mullin, 48, is currently serving his first term as a U.S. senator from Oklahoma. As a tribal member of the Cherokee Nation, he is the first Native American senator in two decades. Before then, he served as a U.S. congressman for Oklahoma’s second congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

A staunch ally of Trump, Mullin campaigned across several battleground states in 2024 as a surrogate, courting Native American voters. During Trump’s campaign, Mullin hinted that he would be “proud” working with the president “in the Senate or in another capacity,” Axios reported. 

As a federal lawmaker, Mullin has not served on either the House Homeland Security Committee or the Senate Homeland Security Committee. In the Senate, his committee assignments include the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Appropriation Committee, Indian Affairs Committee, and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

In 2013, during his first year in Congress, Mullin was referred to the House Ethics Committee over concerns about outside income tied to his radio show and appearances in commercials for his family’s plumbing business. He later repaid funds following the committee’s review.

Most recently, the Oklahoma senator drew attention during Trump’s State of the Union address when he attempted to grab a sign held by Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green reading “Black People Aren’t Apes,” which Green displayed in response to a social media post by the President widely condemned as racist.

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In 2023, Mullin had a heated exchange during a Senate hearing with Sean O’Brien, the president of America’s biggest union Teamsters, after O’Brien’s posted on X calling Mullin a “fraud” and a “clown.” Mullin responded by challenging him to a cage fight before Sen. Bernie Sanders intervened and urged them to stop.

Before entering politics, Mullin was a rancher and an owner of his family’s plumbing business, which he took over after his father became ill. In 2010, he earned an Associate Degree in construction technology from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, making him the only currently serving U.S. senator without a Bachelor’s Degree. Mullin also competed as a mixed martial arts fighter, winning three professional bouts between 2006 and 2007.