Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Monday he hopes to hold a confirmation hearing next week for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), President Trump\u2019s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re shooting for a week from Wednesday,\u201d Paul told reporters as he stepped into a car, according to video captured by CBS News\u2019s Grace Kazarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump tapped Mullin, a first-term senator from Oklahoma, to replace Kristi Noem as DHS secretary last Thursday. Noem, who will take on a new role within the administration on targeting drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, was under fire from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for her department\u2019s immigration enforcement tactics and the bottleneck of disaster relief funding, among other concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republican senators have praised Mullin, a member of the Appropriations, Armed Services, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Indian Affairs committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the sort of person who knows what he doesn\u2019t know. That was the problem with Noem. She couldn\u2019t scale her experience, and I think he can. He\u2019s a man of his word,\u201d said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a fierce critic of Noem who called for her ouster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that\u2019s too big for him to tackle,\u201d said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Appropriations Committee. \u201cHe\u2019s built solid relationships with people on both sides of the aisle. He\u2019s going to keep his word. He\u2019s loyal, and he\u2019s straight-forward and pragmatic in his approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Democrats, though, have mostly been reluctant to support Mullin\u2019s nomination \u2014 with some noting that their issues with immigration enforcement tactics do not end with Noem\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, told Bloomberg last week that Mullin will have to outline \u201chis vision on how to fix what\u2019s really wrong in Homeland Security\u201d during the confirmation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Democratic member of the committee, Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), has already vowed to back Mullin\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mullin\u2019s confirmation hearing will also come over a month after he sharply criticized Paul, the chair. Speaking to the McGrath Breakfast Group in February, the Oklahoma senator called his libertarian colleague from Kentucky a \u201cfreaking snake\u201d for often breaking, according to Oklahoma journalist David Arnett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n