Senate confirms Sen. Markwayne Mullin as DHS secretary [View all]

Source: ABC News

The Senate on Monday confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security by a vote of 54-45.

Two Democrats -- Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico -- joined Republicans voting to confirm Mullin. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against the confirmation as he earlier said he would.

The vote came amid backlash over the immigration crackdown and deportations under DHS as well as the ongoing partial shutdown of the department.

Mullin, a first-term Republican senator and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, will take over DHS with little homeland security experience. During his confirmation hearing last week, Mullin said that he will work hard to earn the respect of people at the department.

Read more: https://abcnews.com/Politics/senate-set-vote-confirming-sen-markwayne-mullin-dhs/story?id=131327334