Sawt Falasteen - Trump nominee for Homeland Security chief grilled at fiery Senate hearing

Mullin, a senator from Oklahoma, clashed repeatedly during his appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee with Senator Rand Paul, the committee chairman and a fellow Republican.

Paul, who has had acrimonious relations with Mullin for years, told reporters after the three-hour hearing that he would vote against his nomination to head the Department of Homeland Security, the agency charged with carrying out Trump's immigration crackdown.

Republicans hold an 8-7 majority on the Senate panel and a simple majority is needed to advance Mullin's nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

A Democratic senator on the committee, John Fetterman, who has indicated he might vote for Mullin's confirmation, said during Wednesday's hearing that he had an "open mind."

The committee vote on Mullin's nomination is expected to be held Thursday.

Noem was fired by Trump this month in part for her handling of the recent large-scale operation against undocumented migrants in Minnesota, during which federal immigration agents shot dead two protesters who were US citizens.

Mullin said one of his goals if confirmed would be to steer DHS and its flashpoint Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency away from the spotlight.

"My goal in six months is that we're not the lead story every single day," Mullin said.

"I want to protect the homeland," Mullin said. "I want to bring peace of mind. I want to bring confidence back to the agency."

He said he would "love to see ICE become a transport" in deporting migrants rather than the "front line" in rounding them up in cities and towns around the country.

He said federal immigration agents would be required to have judicial warrants before entering homes or businesses unless they were pursuing a known felon.

Mullin also retracted remarks he made at the time in which he called one of the two Americans killed in Minneapolis a "deranged individual." "I shouldn't have said that," he said.

He also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under DHS, should be "restructured" but not eliminated, as some in the Trump administration have proposed.

- 'Anger issues' -

The hearing got off to a fiery start as Paul confronted Mullin about past comments the senator from Oklahoma had made about the senator from Kentucky.

Mullin, a burly 48-year-old former wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter, once called Paul a "freaking snake" and said he "understood" why he had been assaulted by a neighbor in 2017.

"Tell me to my face why you think I deserved it," Paul asked Mullin.

"And while you're at it, explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues to set the proper example for ICE and border patrol agents," he continued.

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

Mullin declined to apologize to Paul for his past comments and, referring to the assault by his neighbor, said "I don't think anybody should be hit by surprise."

"I did not say I supported it," he said. "I said I understood it. There's a difference."

Mullin, a staunch Trump supporter, was elected to the Senate from Oklahoma in 2022 after serving 10 years in the US House of Representatives.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST