Fetterman’s cross-party vote pushes Mullin’s DHS nomination ahead – One America Information Community

[ad_1] <img decoding="async" width="800" height="534" src="https://www.oann.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOR-WEBSITE-ARTICLES-2026-03-19T184829.066.png" alt="" class="wp-image-766247" srcset="https://www.oann.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOR-WEBSITE-ARTICLES-2026-03-19T184829.066.png 800w, https://www.oann.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOR-WEBSITE-ARTICLES-2026-03-19T184829.066-400x267.png 400w, https://www.oann.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FOR-WEBSITE-ARTICLES-2026-03-19T184829.066-768x513.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px"/> (Background) Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee member Sen. John Fetterman on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures) / (R) U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) listens on March 18, 2026. (Photograph by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures)

OAN Employees Brooke Mallory6:51 PM – Thursday, March 19, 2026

Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman performed a decisive function in a Republican win on Thursday, when a razor-thin 8–7 vote within the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee superior the nomination of Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to function the following secretary of Homeland Safety.

The outcome was a dramatic rescue of a nomination that had seemed to be getting ready to collapse because of a defection from throughout the Republican occasion’s personal ranks.

The affirmation course of for Mullin, a former MMA fighter and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was marked by intense private animosity and procedural hurdles. The first impediment was not a Democrat, however the committee’s personal chairman, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Paul voted in opposition to Mullin following a sequence of vitriolic exchanges. The strain centered on previous feedback made by Mullin wherein he reportedly referred to as Paul a “freaking snake” and expressed sympathy for the neighbor who bodily assaulted Paul in 2017. In the course of the hearings, Paul questioned Mullin’s “temperament” and health to steer a federal regulation enforcement company — leaving the nomination lifeless within the water with out exterior assist.

Fetterman’s choice to cross occasion strains supplied the “aye” vote vital to interrupt the 7–7 impasse. Fetterman posted on social media the place he declared that his “AYE is rooted in a powerful dedicated, constructive working relationship with Senator Mullin for our nation’s safety.”

Whereas his Democrat colleagues, led by Rating Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.), largely opposed Mullin on the grounds of his immigration stance and a perceived lack of transparency relating to alleged previous “categorized” congressional journeys, Fetterman adopted a realistic, virtually collegial tone.

Fetterman emphasised that the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) might not afford a management vacuum following the departure of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who has now moved on to taking on the brand new function “Particular Envoy for The Defend of the Americas.”

Throughout his testimony, Mullin notably signaled a possible pivot in DHS techniques, suggesting he would implement a judicial warrant requirement for immigration officers getting into non-public properties — a transfer presumably geared toward de-escalating sure conditions following a number of previous media-frenzied incidents involving federal brokers.

The nomination now strikes to the total Senate ground, the place it's anticipated to face a remaining vote as early as subsequent week. Whereas the street forward stays steep, Fetterman’s intervention has, for now, supplied the oxygen essential to preserve the Trump administration’s decide for DHS alive.