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Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin's nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security was saved after polarizing Democrat Sen. John Fetterman crossed party lines to support his colleague in an 8-7 vote by the Senators on the Homeland Security Committee Thursday (March 19), the New York Post reports.
Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the panel, was the only member to speak ahead of the vote and said he would reject Mullin's nomination as he "has failed to be forthright and transparent," adding that he lacked "the experience of the temperament" to lead the federal law enforcement agency. Peters also referenced a senate Ethics Committee finding that Mullin offered to fight Teamsters President Sean O'Brien during a hearing in 2023.
“When offered multiple public opportunities to clarify the intent of your conduct, you declined to uphold the Senate standard and advocated physical violence as a means to resolve political disagreement," Peters read from the finding via the New York Post.
Fetterman has recently gained national attention for his distancing from his own party, having recently told FOX News' Sean Hannity that Democrats "lost the plot" when former Vice President Kamala Harris began calling President Donald Trump a fascist during her 2024 presidential campaign. Republican Sen. Rand Paul also went against party lines, voting against reporting Mullin to the full Senate, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune claiming Paul and Mullin "have some personal history" that they need to "work through" via the Hill.