Lawmakers grill Mullin on DHS funding, trips

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(The Center Square) – Lawmakers grilled Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., the nominee for secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday.

Senators questioned Mullin over DHS funding, agency priorities and a foreign trip he took while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mullin appeared before a panel of senators after President Donald Trump nominated him to replace Kristi Noem, the former head of DHS whom Trump removed after a series of scandals. Noem came under fire for comments labeling American citizens who were killed by ICE “domestic terrorists” and for spending more than $200 million on an ad campaign that was awarded to a politically-connected company without approvals from Congress.

Mullin said his focus as head of DHS would be to bring peace and confidence back to the agency and deal with issues in the homeland.

“I’m not going to be the smartest guy in any room that I walk into, but I know how to get talent and I know how to bring those people together,” Mullin said.

Senators called for funding to be restored throughout the hearing and placed blame on the opposite political party for the funding lapse. DHS has gone without funding since Feb. 14.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, slammed Democrats for not agreeing to funding priorities. He pointed to TSA workers who are going without paychecks due to the ongoing funding freeze and called on Congress to restore DHS funds.

“The American people send us here to get things done,” Moreno said. “Yet, for the third time in six months, we shut this government down with total impunity.”

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., rebutted Republican criticism of the funding lapse and argued that Democrats have proposed individual funding bills for agencies within DHS as the larger funding issues continue.

Over the last several days, Senate Democrats have offered five proposals to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, while negotiations for ICE and CBP funding continue.

“Let's come together and figure out how we put common sense guidelines in place for federal agents that are operating in our communities,” Peters said.

Republicans have argued that the solution to fund only parts of DHS would not be helpful in the long term because ICE and CBP would eventually need appropriations. Although Congress’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” provided funding for ICE and CBP, Republicans argued they want the agencies to continue to be included in the regular appropriations process.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has pointed out he does not believe Democrats would be serious about “continuing negotiations” once certain agencies in DHS are funded.

Amid discussions of funding, Mullin openly said he would reverse certain policies from Kristi Noem’s tenure as DHS secretary and cooperate with an investigation into her leadership.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called on Mullin to cooperate with an investigation into Noem’s $220 million ad campaign and certain contracts she awarded.

A review of documents from ProPublica appeared to find that a firm closely linked to Noem was awarded taxpayer dollars for the campaign.

DHS inspector general Joseph Caffari criticized Noem for her lack of transparency and said he will investigate her leadership tenure.

“I’ll do everything that’s required of me by law, but the IG will be doing the investigation,” Mullin said.

He also said he would not continue a process, started under Noem, that required contracts and grants more than $100,000 to be approved by the secretary.

“I’m not a micro-manager,” Mullin said. “We put people in, we empower them to make decisions. We’re also going to be very responsible for the taxpayer dollars.”

Lawmakers also rigorously questioned Mullin over a trip he made in 2016 that was official business and was classified. The FBI, which conducts background checks on presidential nominees, had no record of the trip, Sens. Paul and Peters said.

“It’s important for us to have the truth here and know that you are portraying yourself in a truthful way,” Peters said.

After a spat over his trip, Mullin agreed to testify privately about the classified details to the full panel of senators. Paul said the nomination hearing would be the fastest he has ever had for an executive nominee if it goes forward.

“This will be the fastest vote anyone’s ever had and that’s despite my qualms and problems with your nomination,” Paul said.

The Senate committee is set to vote on Mullin’s nomination Thursday. If his nomination advances beyond the committee, he will go before the floor of the U.S. Senate for confirmation.