Senators moved to speed the nomination of Markwayne Mullin, President Trump’s pick to lead the Homeland Security Department, to the Senate floor, setting him up to take over the agency at the center of Mr. Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted, 8 to 7, to send Mr. Mullin’s nomination to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation, with most Republicans and one Democrat voting to advance the nomination.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the committee’s Republican chairman, defected from his party and voted in opposition. Mr. Mullin retained sufficient support on the committee, however, with the backing of Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat.
Mr. Mullin is expected to face a confirmation vote in the Senate next week.
Mr. Mullin, who is well liked personally by his Senate colleagues, was expected to be swiftly confirmed. But that trajectory was briefly in doubt on Wednesday when Mr. Mullin clashed with Mr. Paul over his temperament and comments he made about experiencing a war zone, even though he has no military background.
Mr. Paul threatened to hold up the vote if Mr. Mullin did not elaborate on a trip he took overseas while a member of the House, which Mr. Mullin said was classified. Mr. Paul and Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the panel, demanded that Mr. Mullin disclose details in a secure room after the hearing. Mr. Paul later told reporters he planned to vote against Mr. Mullin’s confirmation.
If confirmed, Mr. Mullin would be taking over the Homeland Security Department at a sensitive moment. Under the departing secretary, Kristi Noem, the department advanced Mr. Trump’s goal of imposing stricter immigration policies, drastically reducing illegal border crossings and ramping up hiring of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
But polling has shown a drop in support for the agency after a year of sweeping immigration enforcement actions in Democratic-led cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. The department drew criticism from members of both parties after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration officers amid protests in Minnesota.
Democrats in Congress have refused to allow funding to flow to the department since Feb. 14, demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement.
Mr. Mullin is a stalwart supporter of Mr. Trump, who called him a “MAGA warrior.” He has been a staunch defender of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign and has criticized Democratic-run cities and states for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
But at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, he tried to strike a more cooperative tone and suggested he would break with some of the practices of Ms. Noem, whom Mr. Trump ousted this month amid questions about the department’s spending and strategies.
He told senators that under his leadership, immigration officers would generally no longer enter homes without a judicial warrant. He said the Homeland Security Department would foster closer relationships with jails, suggesting a move away from major urban sweeps.
He also pledged to revoke a policy that had slowed the flow of disaster relief funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which the Homeland Security Department oversees.
Mr. Mullin was sworn in as a senator in 2023 after a decade of serving in the House. He is the second Cherokee Nation citizen to serve in the Senate, according to his website.
He grew up on his family’s ranch in Westville, Okla., and attended college on a wrestling scholarship before his father became ill. He postponed his studies to take over his family business, Mullin Plumbing.
Madeleine Ngo covers immigration and economic policy for The Times.
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