Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., President Donald Trump's pick for Homeland Security secretary, testifies during Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 on Capitol Hill in Washington.Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
“Tell the world why you believe I deserve to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken, and a damaged lung. Tell me to my face.”
“You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake.'”
The explosive remarks, from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), were directed at Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) during his confirmation hearing to be the new Homeland Security Secretary on Wednesday, following Kristi Noem’s firing earlier this month. They came as Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security committee, repeatedly questioned Mullin’s temperament to lead DHS.
The animosity stems from Mullin’s remarks at a February event in Tulsa over why the Oklahoma senator had voted against Paul’s appropriation bill amendment seeking to eliminate funding for welfare programs for legally approved refugees and people seeking asylum. Mullin reportedly explained that if Paul’s amendment was accepted, it would kill the other appropriation bills and lead to a government shutdown—and “the president made it very clear he wanted appropriation bills passed.”
“Rand Paul’s a freaking snake,” Mullin continued, arguing that Paul had proposed the amendment to kill the bill intentionally.
“I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did,” Mullin added, referring to the 2017 assault on Paul by his neighbor. “And I told him that to his face.”
The neighbor was sentenced to a total of nine months in prison for assaulting a member of Congress. Paul has described the neighbor as anti-Trump.
“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 at Wednesday’s hearing.
Mullin refused to apologize, though he did express willingness to set aside the “snake” accusations to do an effective job as DHS secretary.
“I’m not perfect. I don’t claim to be perfect. I make mistakes just like anybody else. But mistakes—if you own them—you can learn from them, and you can move ahead.”
Paul, unmoved, brought up Mullin’s threats to fight Teamsters union president Sean O’Brien during a 2023 hearing, to which Mullin countered that he is now friends with O’Brien.
“I get it. It’s about character assassination,” Mullin said after Paul showed the Senate committee recordings of his confrontation with O’Brien and, later, instances where he celebrated his actions in media interviews. “That’s the way this game is played. I understand it, and you are making this about you.”
“It’s character assassination when you were the one lauding the assault?” Paul shot back.
At another point in the heated exchange, Mullin said that dueling was acceptable between “consenting adults.” Paul refuted the claim by stating that dueling had “been illegal for 170 years.”
