The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted Thursday to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be the next Homeland Security secretary, after the Oklahoma lawmaker clashed with committee Chair Rand Paul in a surprisingly tense Wednesday confirmation hearing.
The vote fell mostly along party lines, with a notable vote swap. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, voted against advancing Mullin’s nomination. Paul took Mullin to task Wednesday over past disparaging comments Mullin made against him and the nature of “special missions” he claimed to have taken as a member of the House.
All but one Democrat — John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — voted against advancing Mullin’s nomination.
