Mullin's confirmation survives key test vote as DHS remains shutdown

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., survived a key test vote on Sunday on his way to becoming the next Homeland Security chief. 

Mullin, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to be the next Department of Homeland Security secretary, still has one more vote to go, and likely won’t be confirmed until Monday evening.

Should he survive the final confirmation vote on Monday, he will replace DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who Trump fired following explosive hearings on the Hill and after the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti during immigration operations in Minnesota. 

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Sunday’s 54 to 37 test vote, which was largely party-line save for Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., who was the key vote to move his colleague out of committee earlier in the week, comes after his explosive confirmation hearing earlier in the week.

Mullin was grilled by both Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who Mullin once called a "snake" and charged that his 2017 assault was "justified." During the hearing, Mullin didn’t back down from his prior remarks. 

"I’m not perfect. I don’t claim to be perfect," Mullin said. "I make mistakes just like anybody else. But mistakes, if you own them, you can learn from them and you can move ahead. And I’ll make that commitment to you."

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If successful on Monday, Mullin will take the reins of an agency that is currently shut down. Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have blocked DHS funding five times in their quest to get stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Mullin appeared amicable to making changes at the agency during his hearing. 

Congressional Democrats have demanded, among other things, that ICE agents get judicial warrants to enter a home or business in the field rather than administrative warrants. And when asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether he would commit to requiring judicial warrants for ICE agents to search homes and businesses, Mullin appeared to give ground to the demand. 

"Judicial warrants will be used to go into houses, into place of businesses, unless we're pursuing someone that enters in that place," Mullin said. "I have not mixed words with that, and I haven't changed my opinion about that."

Meanwhile, what was a shutdown stalemate thawed over earlier this week, when Senate Democrats made a counter offer of DHS demands to the White House after over two weeks of radio silence. 

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That spurred back-to-back meetings on the Hill, with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., along with border czar Tom Homan, sitting down with a cohort of Senate Democrats. A third meeting was slated for Saturday, but was canceled at the last minute. 

The shutdown is currently on its way to becoming the longest in history, unless either side can lock in a deal to fund the agency. Mullin’s nomination to lead DHS has so far not swayed Senate Democrats, either, despite their demands the Noem be booted. 

Whether both sides meet again over the weekend remains in the air.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., accused Senate Democrats of believing that the shutdown "politically good for them." 

"It's not politically good for anybody to have literally tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people out of work and important functions of our government not being carried out on a daily basis and functions that are important to our homeland security and our national security," Thune said.