JUST IN: Senate Advances Markwayne Mullin’s DHS Secretary Nomination — Two Democrats Vote “Yes”

This just in: the Senate has voted to advance Markwayne Mullin’s nomination for Department of Homeland Security Secretary.

The final vote was 54-37.

Surprisingly, two Democrats voted in favor of advancing Mullin’s nomination.

Check it out:

🚨 BREAKING: Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security has ADVANCED in the US Senate, with John Fetterman voting in favor

Now all that’s left is a full confirmation vote.

Almost there! pic.twitter.com/tSOdErRp5Z

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 22, 2026

It’s no shocker that Democrat Sen. John Fetterman was a “yes” vote here.

As we previously reported, he was vocal about his support of Mullin becoming the next DHS chief.

However, another Democrat — Sen. Martin Heinrich — joined Fetterman and Republicans to advance Mullin’s confirmation.

The only Republican who was opposed to Mullin’s nomination, Sen. Rand Paul, did not cast a vote today.

Axios has more:

Why it matters: Mullin is on track to be confirmed this week to succeed Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary when Noem steps down at the end of the month.

• Mullin, a first-term senator, won approval from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday in a narrow, 8-7 vote, despite opposition from the panel’s chairman, Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
• Paul did not vote Sunday. Had he voted “no” on the floor, he would have been the first senator in nearly four decades to oppose a fellow senator nominated by a president of his own party.
• Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), the only Democrat to vote in favor of Mullin’s nomination in committee, voted “yes” again, along with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). Otherwise, the vote split along party lines.

The next, and final, step will be a full confirmation vote, which will happen within the next few days.

Based on how today’s procedural vote went, it’s all but guaranteed that Mullin gets confirmed.

This is excellent news…

Now, if we can just get the DHS itself funded again, that would be great!

Your thoughts?