Markwayne Mullin

Markwayne Mullin (born July 26, 1977) is an American politician and businessman who has served since 2026 as the ninth United States secretary of homeland security. A member of the Republican Party, Mullin served from 2023 to 2026 as the junior United States senator from Oklahoma and from 2013 to 2023 as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's second congressional district.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mullin assumed control of his family's plumbing business in 1998. After entering the 2012 United States House of Representatives election for Oklahoma's second congressional district in 2011, he defeated Democratic candidate Rob Wallace. He was reelected in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

In February 2022, Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe announced that he would resign at the end of the 117th United States Congress. Mullin ran in the special election to succeed Inhofe. He won the Republican primary and the resulting runoff election against state House speaker T. W. Shannon, and defeated Democratic nominee Kendra Horn in the general election. He became the first tribal citizen to serve in the United States Senate since Colorado senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell retired in 2005.

In March 2026, President Donald Trump announced that he had fired Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after her alleged misuse of government funds. Trump nominated Mullin to succeed Noem. Mullin was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in that month. He is the first member of the Cherokee Nation to serve in the Cabinet of the United States.

Markwayne Mullin was born on July 26, 1977, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mullin was the youngest of seven children. He was named after two of his uncles, Mark and Wayne. Mullin was raised in Westville, Oklahoma. Mullin is Cherokee through his maternal grandfather Kenneth Morris, and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation; his ancestry includes Native Americans who arrived in Oklahoma both before and after the Trail of Tears as part of the larger Indian removal. In his youth, Mullin had a speech impediment and clubfoot, forcing him to wear leg braces.

Mullin attended Stilwell High School, where he wrestled, graduating in 1996. Mullin attended Missouri Valley College on a wrestling scholarship. As his father's health deteriorated, Mullin left college in 1998 to take control of his family's business. Mullin received an Associate in Applied Science in plumbing from the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in 2010 and an honorary doctorate from Bacone College in 2018.

In 1997, Mullin assumed control of his family's plumbing business, Mullin Plumbing. The business had six employees at the time. His wife, Christie, postponed her degree to assist Mullin, By July 2011, Mullin Plumbing had become Oklahoma's largest plumbing service company. Mullin also owned Mullin Environmental, Mullin Services, and Mullin Properties, and ranches in Adair and Wagoner Counties. According to The Oklahoman, he owned eight businesses by July 2013. In December 2021, Mullin sold his businesses to CenterOak Partners, a private equity firm based in Dallas. His family continued to operate the plumbing business.

In September 2012, the Associated Press reported that Mullin Plumbing had received about $370,000 in federal stimulus funds through the Cherokee and Muscogee Nations. Mullin said he was not made aware of the source of the funds; The Tulsa World obtained records from the Cherokee Nation indicating that the firm was aware, but not Mullin. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mullin Plumbing accepted between $350,000 and $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. In August 2022, the White House's Twitter account, then operated by the Biden administration, criticized Mullin for having $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven.

Mullin was a professional mixed martial arts fighter between 2006 and 2007. He claimed a 5–0 record in his brief career. Bobby Kelley, who fought Mullin in 2006, told The New York Times that he considered Mullin "one of the best welterweights around" in the four-state area. Mullin was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. He operated the Oklahoma Fight Club, a jujutsu and mixed martial arts school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, by 2012.

By 2011, Mullin had begun hosting House Talk, a call-in radio program for home improvement. The New York Times described the program as similar to NPR's Car Talk. House Talk had several guest hosts; one, Daryl Brown, told the Times that Mullin required those he invited on the show to "prepare meticulously". House Talk was syndicated on Saturday mornings on KFAQ.

In March 2026, Axios reported that Mullin had privately suggested to colleagues that he was involved in private security work for the U.S. government in the Middle East; the claim had not been made in his campaigns or websites. A spokesperson for Mullin told Axios that he had participated in mission work and mentorship support. After he called war "ugly" and said it "smells bad" on Fox News, Mullin clarified on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that he was referring to special assignments outside the Department of Defense.

In June 2011, Oklahoma representative Dan Boren announced that he would not run for reelection in the United States House of Representatives election for Oklahoma's second congressional district. In July, Mullin established a campaign committee to run as a Republican and reported to the Federal Election Commission that he had loaned his campaign $100,000. Mullin's campaign advisor Trebor Worthen later told the Associated Press that Mullin was "fed up" with a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would have required he provide health insurance to his employees. Mullin traveled throughout east Oklahoma in August and September. His tour culminated on September 6, when he announced his campaign in Sallisaw. By October, Mullin had secured over $300,000 in cash donations, primarily funded by business owners and political action committees, widening his fundraising lead.

In March 2012, the Claremore Daily Progress reported that the Federal Election Commission had received a complaint about Mullin's campaign, alleging that it had accepted contributions exceeding the $2,500 limit for individuals; that it had received donations from corporations; and that Mullin Plumbing had improperly combined its commercials with campaign advertising. Mullin's attorneys requested a response from the commission on whether Mullin Plumbing's ads constituted electioneering in May. That month, the Federal Election Commission's lawyers drafted an opinion that would require Mullin's campaign to disclose his plumbing commercials to the commission, but said that customers who spent over $1,000 on plumbing services would not have to be identified.

The commission's decision to delay its opinion stalled Mullin's campaign and came amid a controversy involving Mullin Plumbing's hiring of Tim Saylor, who was convicted of gun-related crimes in 2009. Police questioned Mullin when Saylor was arrested, and Mullin said Saylor had not been subjected to a background check because he had worked for the company before. Mullin remained ahead of other candidates in finances; according to the Tulsa World, several officials considered him the front-runner in the Republican primary. Seeking to avoid complications weeks before the primary, Mullin said in June that he would no longer appear in ads for Mullin Plumbing.

Mullin received a plurality of votes in the Republican primary on June 26 but not a majority, necessitating a runoff election between him and state representative George Faught. Faught called Mullin a "failed candidate who cannot win". He took a personal approach in the runoff campaign, which intensified after he attacked Mullin for hiring Saylor. Mullin defeated Faught in the runoff on August 28. Rob Wallace, a former district attorney, defeated the businessman Wayne Herriman in his own runoff that day, becoming the Democratic nominee. Tulsa World said Mullin and Wallace disagreed "not so much on the issues as on what the issues actually are".

Mullin's campaign largely avoided debates and descriptions of public policy. He debated Wallace at Rogers State University in October. While Wallace criticized wealthy individuals and businesses and encouraged mass hiring to resolve the national debt, Mullin attacked overreaching government and proposed cutting spending to resolve the national debt. On November 6, Mullin defeated Wallace, securing the first all-Republican delegation for Oklahoma since the 1998 elections. After his victory, Mullin embarked on a tour of his district's 26 counties. In April 2013, the FEC ruled in Mullin's favor, determining that his campaign had refunded improper contributions but reminding it about corporate and excessive contributions.

On February 26, 2022, Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe announced that he would resign from office at the end of the 117th United States Congress. Inhofe's statement began a special election to serve the remainder of his term. The next day, Mullin wrote on Twitter that he would run for Inhofe's seat. His campaign finance reports indicated that he had nearly $1 million in his account by December 2021. Within several weeks, the election had attracted several Republican candidates, including T. W. Shannon, the speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and Luke Holland, Inhofe's former chief of staff. Mullin committed US$1 million from his personal funds towards his campaign. He declined to participate in a primary debate, stating that he did not want to miss a House vote on firearms-related legislation.

Mullin garnered a plurality of the votes in the primary election on June 28 but not a majority, necessitating a runoff election between him and Shannon. After the primary, Mullin raised over $162,000 from local business executives—compared to Shannon's $2,000—and was endorsed by President Trump. Mullin and Shannon appeared in a televised debate in August. Mullin defeated Shannon in the runoff election on August 23. He won the November 8 general election against the Democratic nominee, former Oklahoma representative Kendra Horn; Libertarian nominee Robert Murphy; and the independent Ray Woods. In his victory speech, Mullin said he sought to be appointed to the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

Mullin was sworn into office on January 3, 2023. He became the first tribal citizen to serve in the United States Senate since Colorado senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell resigned in 2005, the second member of the Cherokee Nation to serve in the Senate after Robert L. Owen, who retired in 1925, and the only senator in the 118th Congress without a bachelor's degree.

In March 2023, Mullin publicly sparred with Teamsters president Sean O'Brien in a hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, telling him to shut his mouth. In a second hearing in November, Mullin threatened to fight O'Brien. The dispute nearly came to a brawl before the committee's chairman, Bernie Sanders, urged Mullin to relent.

In March 2026, The New York Times reported that Mullin had been working with New Jersey representative Josh Gottheimer on a proposal to end a shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security. The proposal would require judicial warrants for forced home entry; preempt immigration enforcement at locations such as churches and schools; and implement standards imposed in the Biden administration.

On March 5, 2026, President Donald Trump fired Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and nominated Mullin to succeed her. Mullin's nomination occurred amid a shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security. According to Politico, his nomination was expected to be a "straightforward process" because he had served in the Senate, though Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate should not consider his nomination until the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were "reined in". Politico later reported that White House border czar Tom Homan was working to develop a relationship with Mullin. According to The Atlantic, many in the department's leadership were "pleased" by Mullin's appointment.

Mullin appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on March 18. In his testimony, he said he would continue the strict immigration policy of the second Trump administration but would move to end the practice of allowing immigration officers to enter homes without a search warrant, and that DHS would seek agreements with local jails, shifting away from mass immigration raids such as Operation Metro Surge. Mullin also said he would cease Noem's policy to review large Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts, a practice that severely delayed disaster assistance. The committee's chairman, Kentucky senator Rand Paul, verbally attacked Mullin for saying he understood why Paul's neighbor had assaulted him in 2017, suggesting that Mullin had "anger issues". Michigan senator Gary Peters, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, questioned Mullin over comments he made insinuating that he had been in a war zone.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted to advance Mullin's nomination to the Senate in an 8–7 vote on March 19. The vote was largely along party lines, though Paul voted against Mullin, while Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman, a Democrat, voted in favor. Fetterman's deciding vote led to public criticism from some Democrats. The Senate advanced Mullin's nomination in a 54–37 procedural vote on March 22. He was confirmed in a 54–45 vote the next day. The vote largely followed party lines, with the exception of Democratic senators Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Fetterman, who voted to confirm Mullin, and Paul, who voted against the nomination.

Mullin was sworn in as secretary of homeland security by Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 24, 2026. He became the first member of the Cherokee Nation to serve in the Cabinet of the United States. Mullin began his tenure amid several tensions within the Department of Homeland Security, including reputational damage following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, criticism over Noem's use of government funding, and the continuation of the partial government shutdown. Mullin set out to continue Trump's mass deportation strategy while avoiding controversy. He sought to negotiate an agreement to end the shutdown. In April, Mullin reversed Noem's policy to personally review contracts and grants worth over $100,000. Mullin refused to commit to follow orders from the judicial branch.

In June 2013, financial disclosures indicated that Mullin might have been the wealthiest member of Oklahoma's congressional delegation, with an estimated net worth between $2.8 and $9 million. In 2024, his assets were estimated between $29 and $97 million. The sale of Mullin's businesses in 2021 was not publicly disclosed; according to the private market service PitchBook, Mullin moved between $25 million and $50 million into a cash management account the day he sold his companies. In April 2017, Mullin said at a town hall in Jay, Oklahoma, that it was "bullcrap" that taxpayers pay his salary. According to Forbes, Mullin partially or fully owned 30 businesses by March 2026.

Mullin has traded stocks as a representative and a senator, raising questions of conflicts of interest. Around January 2017, he bought stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics, a company involved in an insider trading scandal with New York representative Chris Collins. The apparent success of Mullin's trades as a senator—particularly the purchase of Raytheon shares weeks before the October 7 attacks—inspired a tracker based on his portfolio. In June 2024, a spokesperson for Mullin told The New Yorker that his portfolio was managed by an "independent third party". In December 2025, Mullin invested in over 30 companies in a transaction worth as much as $2.8 million. The purchases included shares in Chevron, whose stock price abruptly rose after the U.S. intervened to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro five days later.

In December 2013, the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended a full investigation to the House Committee on Ethics over allegations that Mullin received outside earned income and had endorsed products and services owned by him or his family. In March 2014, the committee released a report alleging that Mullin violated House ethics rules and federal laws by earning over $600,000 from his plumbing companies—in excess of a limit imposed on lawmakers—and by sitting on his plumbing company's board. The Ethics Committee continued to investigate the earnings but declined to establish a special investigative panel. In 2018, the committee called for Mullin to return $40,000 to his family business, Mullin West. In 2024, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics alleging that Mullin had not disclosed nine stock purchases in 2023. Mullin reported the purchases nearly a year later.

In his 2011 campaign announcement, Mullin said he would oppose the Obama administration's policies. In November 2015, he endorsed Florida senator Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential election. After Rubio lost to Donald Trump in the Republican primaries, Mullin endorsed Trump in August 2016, telling the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce that Trump was "friendly" to businesses and that he could not trust Hillary Clinton. By June 2018, The Oklahoman had called Mullin one of Trump's "most vocal backers", particularly on tariffs. In October 2018, Trump endorsed Mullin in that year's election.

Mullin's relationship with Trump became closer after Mullin's son Jim suffered a severe brain injury in a high school wrestling match. Trump invited Mullin and his son to a rally and offered to pay for Jim's treatments. According to Mullin, Trump regularly called to ask about Jim. In March 2022, Mullin proposed expunging Trump's first impeachment, arguing that it did not meet the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. In April, he wrote in a fundraising letter that the Biden administration "tried to kill" him in his effort to rescue Afghans in 2021. In July, Trump endorsed Mullin in that year's special election.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Mullin opposed Vice President Joe Biden's suggestion that President Barack Obama could use an executive order to enact gun control, calling it "absurd". Mullin defended the hunter Phil Robertson after he told GQ that homosexuality was "just not logical" and a sin, saying Robertson was being "punished" for expressing his opinion. Mullin supported the Supreme Court decision Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014), which gave private corporations religious exemptions from certain regulations. In a televised debate in August 2022, Mullin said he supported a federal ban on abortion without exceptions.

In May 2016, Mullin criticized the Department of Education and the Department of Justice's Dear Colleague letter on transgender students, arguing that transgender girls should not use girls' restrooms in public schools. By January 2021, Mullin and Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard had introduced a bill to prevent transgender women from participating in women's sports.

Mullin opposed Obama's proposal to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. He objected to Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. In May 2016, Mullin introduced the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, a bill that would expand the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act to include mixed martial arts. The measure, which would force promotion companies to share financial information with fighters and establish an independent ranking system, was opposed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.