Markwayne Mullin Confirmed as DHS Secretary 54-45: Senate Scorecard and Vote Breakdown

On March 23, 2026, the United States Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin R-OK as Secretary of Homeland Security by a vote of 54-45, with one senator not voting. The confirmation caps a two-day process that began with a cloture vote the previous afternoon — and hands Mullin leadership of the nation's third-largest cabinet department on day one of a department still operating without a confirmed FY2026 budget.

Here is the complete voting record, Mullin's legislative history, and a breakdown of the three senators who broke from their parties.

The Confirmation Vote — By the Numbers

The final confirmation roll call (Senate Roll Call Vote #63, 119th Congress, 2nd Session) was called at 7:40 PM on March 23, 2026. The result: YEA 54, NAY 45, Not Voting 1.

The day before, Roll Call Vote #62 invoked cloture on Mullin's nomination by the same 54-37 margin (with 9 senators not voting for cloture who returned for the final vote). The cloture-to-confirmation pattern shows near-perfect party discipline: the same senators who enabled the vote confirmed the nominee.

A procedural footnote worth noting: Mullin himself appears in the YEA column of Roll Call #63 — he had not yet formally resigned his Senate seat at the time the vote was called, making him technically a senator casting a ballot on his own nomination. This is unusual but not unprecedented.

Who Is Markwayne Mullin?

Mullin, born October 24, 1977, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is of Cherokee Nation descent and grew up in Westville, OK. Before entering politics, he ran Mullin Plumbing, a family-owned HVAC and plumbing business in eastern Oklahoma. He also competed in mixed martial arts — a background that foreshadowed a combative legislative style that would define his career on Capitol Hill.

Mullin was first elected to the House in 2012, representing Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District. He served five terms (2013–2022) before winning the November 2022 special election to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe R-OK. He was sworn into the Senate on December 12, 2022, giving him approximately 3 years and 3 months of Senate service before his cabinet confirmation.

He is perhaps best known nationally for a 2023 Senate HELP Committee hearing in which he challenged Teamsters President Sean O'Brien to a physical fight from the dais — a moment that drew coverage far beyond C-SPAN's usual audience. He has been a close ally of former President Donald Trump and supported Trump's 2024 re-election campaign.

His Senate Voting Record (2023–2026)

In his roughly 3.25 years in the Senate, Mullin compiled a party unity score estimated at approximately 98% based on GovTrack data for his tenure — placing him among the most consistently Republican members of the chamber. Selected key votes from the 119th Congress (2nd Session) illustrate the pattern:

The DHS appropriations votes are worth pausing on. Mullin voted YEA on all five cloture attempts to advance the DHS funding bill — consistently supporting the appropriations process even as Democrats and a handful of Republicans repeatedly blocked it. He will now take over a department still operating under a continuing resolution.

Who Broke Ranks — and Why

Three senators broke from their party's majority position on the Mullin confirmation. Each deserves individual examination.

Sen. John Fetterman D-PA — YES

Fetterman's support for Mullin is consistent with his established pattern in the 119th Congress. CVT's own Flip-Flop Tracker has documented Fetterman crossing party lines on multiple high-profile votes — including prior Trump cabinet nominees, immigration enforcement measures, and national security authorizations. Pennsylvania is a swing state with significant working-class constituencies that hold hawkish views on border security; Fetterman has clearly made political peace with these crossovers. His YES on Mullin was expected by anyone who has followed his voting record.

Sen. Martin Heinrich D-NM — YES

Heinrich's vote is more notable. New Mexico is a border state, sharing nearly 180 miles of frontier with Mexico, and DHS directly governs the federal response to the border situation that shapes daily life in much of the state. But Heinrich is not categorized as a regular Trump-nominee supporter — making this a meaningful crossover, not a routine one.

The intra-state split tells the story: Heinrich's New Mexico colleague, Sen. Ben Ray Luján D-NM, voted NAY. These two senators represent the same state, the same constituencies, and the same party — and they cast opposite votes on the same nominee. Heinrich's YES was a personal judgment, not a Democratic caucus decision, and not a statewide read.

Sen. Rand Paul R-KY — NO

Paul was the only Republican to vote against Mullin's confirmation — continuing a well-documented pattern of libertarian opposition to nominees he views as expanding executive authority over domestic surveillance, civil liberties, and FISA-adjacent programs. CVT profiled Paul's voting record in detail in our Rand Paul Scorecard earlier this month; his opposition to DHS nominees is consistent with his broader constitutional objections to the national security state.

Paul had listed as Not Voting on the cloture motion (Roll Call #62) — a protest abstention — then returned to cast a formal NAY on the final confirmation. The one-senator Republican defection provides ideological cover without meaningfully threatening the outcome.

Sen. Ruben Gallego D-AZ — Not Voting

Arizona is a border state; Gallego is a moderate Democrat with a history of immigration-adjacent positioning. He was listed as Not Voting on both the cloture motion and the final confirmation — no public statement has been issued explaining the absence. Whether this reflects scheduling, political calculation, or other circumstances is not confirmed in the public record.

The DHS Funding Paradox

Here is where the data gets structurally interesting, and where neutral journalism produces a genuinely stark picture: the Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security while the DHS appropriations process has failed five separate cloture votes in the same session of Congress.

The timeline of DHS funding failures in the 119th Congress, 2nd Session:

Mullin voted YEA on each of these — he consistently supported advancing the DHS funding bill that his new department still hasn't received. He takes charge of a department operating under a continuing resolution, overseeing an active immigration enforcement posture, and responsible for ongoing border enforcement and counternarcotics operations. Day one of the new DHS Secretary comes without a confirmed annual budget.

What Happens to Oklahoma's Senate Seat

With Mullin's formal resignation effective upon his swearing-in as DHS Secretary, Oklahoma's senior Senate seat becomes vacant. Under Oklahoma law, Governor Kevin Stitt R-OK — currently in his second term, running through January 2027 — holds the authority to appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election is held.

Stitt is a Republican; Oklahoma is a reliably Republican state. The interim appointment and any subsequent special election would be expected to maintain the seat within the Republican column, preserving the 53-47 Senate composition that has characterized the 119th Congress. CVT will track the appointment and special election timeline as it develops.