Mark Wayne Mullin Confirmed as New Homeland Security Secretary

The Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday in a 54-to-45 vote, putting the Republican senator from Oklahoma in charge of the nation's largest federal agency.

The confirmation crossed party lines in both directions. Two Democratic senators, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, voted in favor of Mullin. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who chairs the Senate panel that oversees DHS, voted against him after a tense exchange during last week's confirmation hearing.

Mullin replaces Kristi Noem, whom President Trump fired roughly six weeks after DHS agents shot and killed two American citizens during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

He now leads an agency that remains shut down while negotiations over its funding legislation continue, leaving open questions about how DHS will operate in the weeks ahead.