--- title: Who Is Markwayne Mullin, the New Homeland Security Secretary? description: President Trump has selected Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem. canonical: https://time.com/7382769/markwayne-mullin-homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem/ author: Philip Wang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-05T21:57:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:56.195Z article:section: Politics og:title: Who Is Markwayne Mullin, the New Homeland Security Secretary? og:description: Trump has selected Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem. og:url: https://time.com/7382769/markwayne-mullin-homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb9498323280abda/69b048adcaac9958ccea4f0e/GettyImages-2264978661.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4019 og:image:height: 2261 og:image:alt: President Trump Fires Kristi Noem And Nominates Sen. Markwayne Mullin To Become DHS Chief og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Who Is Markwayne Mullin, the New Homeland Security Secretary? twitter:description: Trump has selected Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb9498323280abda/69b048adcaac9958ccea4f0e/GettyImages-2264978661.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Who is Markwayne Mullin, the New Homeland Security Secretary? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=72790af8-8352-48ca-b40c-3a335ffab0db&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Bernie Sanders Stops Fight Between Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters Boss Sean O’Brien [Watch (HLS stream): Bernie Sanders Stops Fight Between Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters Boss Sean O’Brien](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ThhWegKs.m3u8) (2:59)  _Published 2023-11-14. One of two altercations on Capitol Hill broke out during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing when Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, and Teamsters President Sean O'Brien nearly came to blows. Earlier in the day, Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, accused former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of deliberately elbowing him in the back._  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Mar 5, 2026 9:57 PM UTC  Sen. Markwayne Mullin speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol Building on March 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. Sen. Markwayne Mullin speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol Building on March 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Mar 5, 2026 9:57 PM UTC Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma senator and former mixed martial arts fighter, is poised to take on a far different arena after President Donald Trump [selected him](https://time.com/7382719/kristi-noem-removed-homeland-security-secretary-markwayne-mullin/) to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security. “I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security,” President Donald Trump [wrote Thursday](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116178030946996760) on Truth Social. He added that the current Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, will take on a new role as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. **Read more:** [_Kristi Noem's Removal Was About Optics, Not Policy_](https://time.com/7382737/kristi-noem-firing-markwayne-mullin-takeaways/) Once formally nominated, Mullin would face Senate confirmation hearings, where Democrats are likely to press him on how he would manage the Administration’s hard-line immigration policies. Mullin, 48, is currently serving his first term as a U.S. senator from Oklahoma. As a tribal member of the Cherokee Nation, he is the first Native American senator in two decades. Before then, he served as a U.S. congressman for Oklahoma’s second congressional district from 2013 to 2023. A staunch ally of Trump, Mullin campaigned across several battleground states in 2024 as a surrogate, courting Native American voters. During Trump’s campaign, Mullin hinted that he would be “proud” working with the president “in the Senate or in another capacity,” Axios [reported](https://www.axios.com/2024/10/24/trump-native-american-mullin-gabbard). As a federal lawmaker, Mullin has not served on either the House Homeland Security Committee or the Senate Homeland Security Committee. In the Senate, his committee assignments include the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Appropriation Committee, Indian Affairs Committee, and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. In 2013, during his first year in Congress, Mullin was referred to the House Ethics Committee over concerns about outside income tied to his radio show and appearances in commercials for his family’s plumbing business. He later repaid funds following the committee’s review. Most recently, the Oklahoma senator drew attention during Trump’s State of the Union address when he [attempted to grab a sign](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l%5FLHwdpAbrw) held by Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green reading “Black People Aren’t Apes,” which Green displayed in response to a [social media](https://time.com/7372734/trump-obama-monkey-video-republican-criticism-racist-trope/) post by the President widely condemned as racist. **Read more:** [_Trump’s Dangerous Diversionary Device: Using Race to Erase Discourse_](https://time.com/7372895/trump-obama-video-diversion/) In 2023, Mullin had a heated exchange during a Senate hearing with Sean O’Brien, the president of America’s biggest union Teamsters, after O’Brien’s [posted](https://x.com/TeamsterSOB/status/1671556346246725638?lang=en) on X calling Mullin a “fraud” and a “clown.” Mullin responded by [challenging](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl-2KTpXShY) him to a cage fight before Sen. Bernie Sanders intervened and urged them to stop. Before entering politics, Mullin was a rancher and an owner of his family’s plumbing business, which he took over after his father became ill. In 2010, he earned an Associate Degree in construction technology from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, making him the only currently serving U.S. senator without a Bachelor’s Degree. Mullin also competed as a mixed martial arts fighter, winning three professional bouts between 2006 and 2007\. ## Transcript Now let's talk about mr. O'Brien himself. His behavior is everybody knows in this here in the last time when I kind of had a back-and-forth appreciate you to meet her today is quite different. But after you left here you got pretty excited about keyboard in fact you We did that mean 1 2 3 4 5 times in a row who pretend like you self made. So I wish you was in the truck with me when I was building my plumbing company myself and my wife was running the office because I sure remember working pretty hard and long hours. Pretends like she's self-made what a clown fraud always has been always will be quit the tough-guy act in the Senate hearings, you know where to find me any place any time cowboy. So this is a time. This is a place you want to run your mouth. We can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here. Okay, that's fine. I'd love to do right now. It is Mary Fallin. If we can do I have the can I respond to a hearing for congress? What's I don't like you cuz you know that I tried yourself. Alright, then let's do this because I did challenge you and I accepted your challenge. And you went quiet. No, I didn't go quite I was you challenged me to a cage match acting like a twelve-year-old school early today. I have the mic you have questions on any economic issues anything we said go for it. We're not here to talk about physical abuse you brought when I talk about exposes Thug to who he is and you don't point at me. That's disrespectful. Y'all want to come over in the Moto there before he kicked it. This is a this is a hearing to discuss economic issues. All right. Do you have questions for mr. O'Brien or anybody else on what he has said go for it, but we're not here to talk about fights. I'm exposing him. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7382769/markwayne-mullin-homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7382769/markwayne-mullin-homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem/"},"headline":"Who is Markwayne Mullin, the New Homeland Security Secretary?","datePublished":"2026-03-05T21:57:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:56.195Z","description":"President Trump has selected Oklahoma Sen. 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