Judicial warrants are required to enter homes, Mullin says

The nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security is Sen. Markwayne Mullin said federal immigration agents would need judicial warrants to enter private homes or businesses, marking a potential policy shift from his predecessor, Christy Nome.

“We don’t enter a home or a place of business without a judicial warrant unless we’re following a person running into the place of business or the home,” Mullin, R-Okla., said in his confirmation hearing on Wednesday when asked about the internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo allowing for warrantless arrest and entry.

After President Donald Trump called for the “nationalization” of elections last month, he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that he does not plan to send DHS law enforcement to polling places.

“The only reason my officers are there is if they have a specific threat to be there, not for the threat,” Mullin said.

Mullin’s appearance before the committee on Wednesday was the first of two this week Sen. Chaired by Rand Paul, R-Ky. Trump tapped Mullin, a close congressional ally of the president, to lead DHS earlier this month after firing Noem, who was mired in controversy.

The hearing got off to a tense start when Paul called Mullin out on comments he had made about Paul. In February, Mullin reportedly called the Kentucky Republican a “freaking snake” and suggested he understand why Paul’s neighbors attacked him in 2017.

“I wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that is struggling to accept limits to the proper use of force,” Paul said.

“Tell me to my face why you think I deserve it,” Paul continued. “And while you’re at it, explain to the American public why a person with anger issues should be trusted to set the right example for ICE and Border Patrol agents.”

Mullin, in response, did not strike a conciliatory tone.

“We won’t be together. But, sir, it won’t stop me from doing my job,” Mullin told Paul. “I may have different opinions with everyone in this room, but as Secretary of the Homeland, I will protect everyone.”

“The record must show, and I will show, a lack of remorse, no apology and no remorse for your support, that you fully understand the violence inflicted on me,” Paul said.

Republicans hold an 8-7 edge in the committee, and Mullin needs a simple majority to advance to the full Senate. Paul told reporters after the hearing that he would not vote for Mullin according to Ms Now. A “no” from Paul complicates his candidacy, though Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he would vote in support of Mullin. The committee is scheduled to vote on Mullin’s nomination Thursday.

Mullin is a hard-liner who has endorsed the Trump administration’s immigration policies. He is trying to lead the agency, which is currently stalled amid Democratic concerns about immigration enforcement policies. Senate Democrats and the White House continue to negotiate a funding deal for DHS.

A former MMA fighter, rancher and owner of his own plumbing business, Mullin came to the House in 2013 riding an anti-establishment wave. He became a senator in 2023 and is known on the Hill for building strong relationships with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

On Wednesday he was surrounded by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Republican and Democratic House colleagues, including moderate New Jersey Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer.

Sitting directly behind Mullin was Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who got into a nearly physical altercation with Mullin during a Senate hearing in 2023. The pair became friends, according to Mullin.

“He has the rare gift of bringing people together on both sides of the aisle,” said Sen. R-Okla. James Lankford said.

But those strong, bipartisan ties haven’t spared Mullin from tough questions from committee Democrats, who have sharply criticized Trump’s mass deportation policies and liberal deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal immigration agents.

The top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. Before the investigation, Mullin called federal employee ICU nurse Pretty a “disturbed person,” echoing claims Noem made in the immediate aftermath of the murder.

“Can we expect such quick responses if you are confirmed as secretary?” Peters asked.

“Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn’t have said that and as secretary I won’t. The investigation is ongoing,” Mullins said. “Sometimes I’m going to make a mistake and I own it. It’s, I went there too fast.”

Peters grilled Mullin, who has never served in the military, about recent comments he made after the war broke out in Iran.

“War is dirty. It smells bad. And if somebody’s been there and you can smell the war going on around you and feel it in your nostrils and hear it, it’s something you’ll never forget. And it’s dirty,” Mullin told Fox News.

In response to questions about Peters’ overseas experience, Mullin referred to “classified” official trips while a member of the House.

“In 2015, I was asked very casually to train and go to a certain area,” Mullin said. “At that point, I was asked to go, had to meet certain training qualifications,” Mullin said.

“Where did you smell the war, sir?” Peters continued.

Mullin said he “hasn’t talked specifically” about tour details. Paul and Peters requested a classified briefing after the hearing to get more information about the overseas period.

Some Democratic critics of DHS said after Mullin’s tap that the change in leadership would do little to change policy as long as Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, holds the reins. And Mullin didn’t differ much from the administration when asked about specific aspects of immigration policy.

Sen. on quotas for ICE arrests Asked by Rep. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Mullin said: “There’s no quota set for me, sir … The president of the United States sets the policies and I work with the president.”