随着这位俄克拉荷马州议员在克里斯蒂·诺姆有争议的任期结束后准备接管国土安全部，聚光灯现在集中在共和党参议员马克·韦恩·马林身上开火周四。
48岁的马林没有执法经验，但一直是唐纳德·特朗普总统移民和执法政策的坚定支持者。
消息爆出后不久，马林告诉美国广播公司新闻频道的雷切尔·斯科特和其他记者，当特朗普打电话给他宣布这一消息时，他完全措手不及，而且还没有和他的妻子通话。
“我对这个机会感到非常兴奋，”他说。
“我的重点是保持国土安全，”他补充说。
马林需要得到参议院的批准。
他说，他准备“努力赢得每个人的选票”，包括民主党人的选票。
“如果他们有真正的担忧，我会倾听，我会务实，”他说。
从企业主到国会
马林自2013年以来一直是国会议员，担任参议员四年。
他在俄克拉荷马州出生和长大，是切罗基族的成员。马林20岁时从大学辍学，去经营他父亲的管道生意。
他最终获得了俄克拉何马州立大学理工学院的副学士学位，这使他成为唯一一个没有学士学位的现任参议员。
在2006年和2007年的一段短暂时间里，马林是一名职业综合格斗选手。
马林将他的业务扩展到其他领域，包括房地产和农业，并主持了一个关于家庭装修的广播节目。
2012年，马林赢得了他在俄克拉荷马州的第一次选举钕口号是“牧场主”。一个商人。不是政客。”
直到2021年，他仍然是他的企业的所有者，同时也是众议院的成员。
马林在众议院任职期间支持强硬的保守政策，包括反对堕胎权、放松枪支管制法律和支持特朗普的减税政策。
马林支持特朗普的信息
他是特朗普的公开支持者，并呼应了总统毫无根据的说法，即2020年的选举被窃取和操纵。
在2021年1月6日特朗普支持者袭击美国国会大厦期间，马林在众议院会议厅内，有人看到他制作临时路障，以防止暴徒进入。袭击发生后，他继续推动特朗普毫无根据的选举主张。
“很难让我相信乔·拜登比历史上任何一位总统都获得了更多的选票，”马林在一次演讲中说2022年8月参议院候选人辩论.
“我们越来越多地从不同的州发现更多的细节，他们正在深入调查，并表示这次选举比我们想象的有更多的违规行为，”他补充说。
没有证据表明2020年的选举存在大范围的舞弊。
几项审计、调查和诉讼已经确定，让拜登获胜的计票是准确的，选举是正确进行的。
穆林在白宫任职期间曾公开批评乔·拜登总统，并公开反对总统的学生贷款学生贷款债务减免计划。马林提出了两项弹劾拜登的决议，都没有通过。
2022年，马林赢得了一场特别选举，以结束即将退休的共和党参议员吉姆·殷霍夫的任期。在过去的三年里，马林继续推动他的保守政策，当特朗普在2024年再次当选时，这位参议员支持特朗普政府的信息和政策。
马林在与工会领袖的激烈争论中迅速走红
在2023年11月的卫生，教育，劳动和养老金委员会听证会上，马林从座位上站起来后，一场紧张的会议迅速传播开来似乎准备进行身体对抗卡车司机工会主席肖恩·奥布莱恩。
奥布莱恩和马林在社交媒体上进行了激烈的争论，工会领袖称这位参议员是“小丑”和“骗子”。
马林在听证会上宣读了这些帖子，并大声叫出了奥勃良。
“先生，这是一个时间，这是一个地点。你想说话吗?我们可以成为两个同意的成年人——我们可以在这里完成它，”参议员说。
“好吧，那很好。很好，”奥勃良回答道。
“你想现在就做吗?”马林问。
“我很想现在就做，”奥勃良说。
“那就站起来，”马林回答。
佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯。，恳求大家冷静下来。
马林后来告诉记者，他与奥布莱恩“没有过节”，只是回应奥布莱恩呼吁打架的推特。
“人们已经斗争了很长时间。我是说，回到19世纪....决斗是合法的。如果你有不同，你就有不同，”马林说。“不是我开始的。”
马林和奥勃良似乎把他们的争论抛在脑后，以一种脸书视频去年一起推动劳工部长洛瑞·查韦斯-德雷默的提名。
本周，穆林在周二陷入困境，他最初告诉记者，“这是战争，我们正在消除威胁，”在被问及美国和以色列军队对伊朗的袭击后，他收回之前说，“我们没有宣战。”
如果得到确认，穆林的座位会怎么样
如果穆林成为新的国土安全部部长并辞去他的席位，那么俄克拉荷马州州长将临时任命某人来填补他的职位，但不需要召集特别选举，因为穆林的参议院席位已经在今年进行选举。
根据俄克拉荷马州法规俄克拉荷马州州长任命参议员职位空缺后30天内接替他的人。
法令还规定，“一个有望被任命的人应该向国务卿提交一份宣誓书，确认这个人在下一次出现在选票上时不会作为该职位的候选人。”
因为参议院席位已经被安排在下一次选举中“填满整个任期”,根据州法令“在定期选举中当选的候选人应被视为也已当选填补空缺，并在国家选举委员会正式认证选举后有资格担任该职务。”
俄克拉荷马州州长凯文·斯蒂特(Kevin Stitt)在给美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的一份声明中称马伦是一名“斗士”，并表示他计划任命一名“强大、小型的政府保守派人士”，但没有说明他正在考虑任命谁。
俄克拉荷马州选举委员会将美国广播公司的新闻转给了州长办公室。
参议院初选和其他职位的申报截止日期是4月3日初选定在6月16日。
'Going to be practical': Sen. Markwayne Mullin speaks out after being named Noem's replacement at DHS
The spotlight is now on Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the Oklahoma lawmaker is poised to take over the Department of Homeland Security following Kristi Noem's controversial tenure andfiringon Thursday.
Mullin, 48, has no law enforcement experience but has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump's policies on immigration and law enforcement.
Mullin told ABC News' Rachel Scott and other reporters shortly after the news broke that he was completely caught off guard when Trump called him about the announcement and hadn't yet talked to his wife.
"I am super excited about this opportunity," he said.
"My focus is to keep the homeland secure," he added.
Mullin will need to be confirmed by the Senate.
He said he is ready to "try to earn everybody's vote," including those of Democrats.
"If they have real concerns I'm going to listen to it, I'm going to be practical," he said.
From business owner to Congress
Mullin has been a member of Congress since 2013, with four years as a senator.
He was born and raised in Oklahoma and member of the Cherokee Nation. Mullin dropped out of college at age 20 to run his father's plumbing business.
He would eventually earn an associate's degree from the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, making him the only current sitting senator without a bachelor's degree.
Mullin was a professional mixed martial arts fighter for a brief period in 2006 and 2007.
Mullin would expand his business to other ventures including real estate and agriculture and hosted a radio show on home improvement.
In 2012, Mullin won his first election for Oklahoma's 2ndCongressional District with the slogan "A rancher. A businessman. Not a politician."
He remained the owner of his businesses while a member of the House until 2021.
Mullin championed hard conservative policies during his tenure in the House, including opposing abortion rights, relaxing gun control laws and supporting Trump's tax cuts.
Mullin champions Trump's message
He was a vocal supporter of Trump and echoed the president's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen and rigged.
Mullin was inside the House Chamber during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters and was seen making makeshift barricades to prevent the rioters from getting in. He continued to push Trump's baseless election claims following the attack.
"It's going to be very hard to convince me that Joe Biden received more votes than any other president in history," Mullin said during anAugust 2022 Senate candidate debate.
"More and more, we're finding more details out from different states who are doing a deep dive and are saying this election had a lot more irregularities than we thought," he added.
There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Several audits, probes and lawsuits have determined that the count that gave Biden the win was accurate and the election was conducted properly.
Mullin was a vocal critic of President Joe Biden during his time in the White House and came out against the president's student loan forgiveness plan. Mullin introduced two resolutions to impeach Biden, which never passed.
In 2022, Mullin won a special election to finish the term retiring GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe. Over the last three years, Mullin continued to push for his conservative policies and when Trump was reelected in 2024, the senator championed the Trump administration's messaging and policies.
Mullin goes viral in heating moment with union leader
A tense meeting at during a November 2023 Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing went viral after Mullin stood up from his seat andappeared to prepare to physically fightTeamsters Union President Sean O'Brien.
O'Brien and Mullin had been engaged in a back and forth on social media where the union leader called the senator a "clown" and a "fraud."
Mullin read the posts during the hearing and called out O'Brien.
"Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults -- we can finish it here," the senator said.
"OK, that's fine. Perfect," O'Brien responded.
"You want to do it right now?" Mullin asked.
"I'd love to do it right now," O'Brien said.
"Well stand your butt up then," Mullin replied.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pleaded for everyone to calm down.
Mullin later told reporters that he has "no beef" with O'Brien and was simply responding to O'Brien's tweets calling for a fight.
"People have been fighting for a long time. I mean, go back to the 1800s .... It was legal to do duels. If you have a difference, you have a difference," Mullin said. "I didn't start it."
Mullin and O'Brien appeared to put their argument behind them and appeared in aFacebook videotogether last year promoting the nomination of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
This week Mullin was on the hot seat on Tuesday after he initially told reporters, "This is war, and we're taking out the threat," after asked about the U.S. and Israeli army attacks on Iran before backtracking and saying, "We haven't declared war."
What happens to Mullin seat if confirmed
If Mullin becomes the new Homeland Security secretary and resigns his seat, then Oklahoma's governor will temporarily appoint someone to fill his spot but will not need to call a special election, since Mullin's Senate seat is already up for election this year.
According toOklahoma state statute, the governor of Oklahomaappointssomeone to take the senator's place within 30 days of the seat becoming vacant.
The statute also says that "a person who is a prospective appointee shall submit to the Secretary of State an oath affirming that the person will not file as a candidate for the office when it next appears on the ballot."
Because the Senate seat was already scheduled to be "filled for a full term" during the next election,according to state statute, "the candidate elected to the office at the regularly scheduled election shall be deemed to also have been elected to fill the vacancy and shall be eligible to assume the office upon the official certification of the election by the State Election Board."
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, in a statement to ABC News, described Mullen as a "fighter" and said he plans to appoint a "strong, small government conservative voice," without saying who he is thinking of appointing.
The Oklahoma State Board of Elections referred ABC News to the office of the Governor.
The filing deadline for the Senate primary and other officesis April 3with the primary set for June 16.
