type: timeline_event
By March 11, 2026, The Hill confirmed that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee formally scheduled the confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as the next DHS Secretary for March 18, 2026. Bloomberg reported on the shaping confrontation between Mullin and committee chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
Paul publicly signaled that the hearing would be substantively challenging, reflecting both their personal history — Mullin had previously called Paul "a freaking snake" — and Paul's stated concerns about civil liberties, surveillance, and the constitutional limits of immigration enforcement. Paul chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, giving him direct authority over the timing and framing of the hearing.
Forty House Republicans had written to Trump rallying behind Mullin, calling the moment "critical" for border security. CNBC profiled Mullin on March 11, noting he was expected to bring conservative immigration enforcement postures to DHS, maintaining the administration's mass deportation agenda that Noem had overseen.
The hearing was anticipated as a significant moment given the concurrent controversies: federal courts in Minnesota had tallied over 210 ICE violations of court orders; the $38.3 billion detention expansion was underway; and the administration had just asked the Supreme Court to strip TPS from 350,000 Haitians.