Markwayne Mullin was confirmed Department of Homeland Security secretary, placing the Oklahoma senator in charge of a Trump administration immigration crackdown that has triggered a 37-day funding shutdown of the cabinet agency.
The Senate voted 54-45 mostly along party lines Monday to confirm Mullin, a first-term Republican senator and former mixed martial arts fighter who has been a staunch defender of Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
The Oklahoma Republican will assume control of the shuttered department, as Americans contend with the resulting hours-long lines at airports and while Trump’s escalating demands have undermined bipartisan efforts to strike a deal to …