Markwayne Mullin (born July 26, 1977) is an American politician and businessman who has served since 2026 as the ninth United States secretary of homeland security. A member of the Republican Party, Mullin served from 2023 to 2026 as the junior United States senator from Oklahoma and from 2013 to 2023 as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's second congressional district.
A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mullin assumed control of his family's plumbing business in 1998. After entering the 2012 United States House of Representatives election for Oklahoma's second congressional district in 2011, he defeated Democratic candidate Rob Wallace. He was reelected in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.
In February 2022, Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe announced that he would resign at the end of the 117th United States Congress. Mullin ran in the special election to succeed Inhofe. He won the Republican primary and the resulting runoff election against state House speaker T. W. Shannon, and defeated Democratic nominee Kendra Horn in the general election. He became the first tribal citizen to serve in the United States Senate since Colorado senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell retired in 2005.
In March 2026, President Donald Trump announced that he had fired Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after her alleged misuse of government funds. Trump nominated Mullin to succeed Noem. Mullin was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in that month. He is the first member of the Cherokee Nation to serve in the Cabinet of the United States.
Early life and education Markwayne Mullin was born on July 26, 1977, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mullin was the youngest of seven children. He was named after two of his uncles, Mark and Wayne. Mullin was raised in Westville, Oklahoma. Mullin is Cherokee through his maternal grandfather Kenneth Morris, and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation; his ancestry includes Native Americans who arrived in Oklahoma both before and after the Trail of Tears as part of the larger Indian removal. In his youth, Mullin had a speech impediment and clubfoot, forcing him to wear leg braces.
Mullin attended Stilwell High School, where he wrestled, graduating in 1996. Mullin attended Missouri Valley College on a wrestling scholarship. As his father's health deteriorated, Mullin left college in 1998 to take control of his family's business. Mullin received an Associate in Applied Science in plumbing from the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in 2010 and an honorary doctorate from Bacone College in 2018.
Career Businesses (1997–2021) In 1997, Mullin assumed control of his family's plumbing business, Mullin Plumbing. The business had six employees at the time. His wife, Christie, postponed her degree to assist Mullin, By July 2011, Mullin Plumbing had become Oklahoma's largest plumbing service company. Mullin also owned Mullin Environmental, Mullin Services, and Mullin Properties, and ranches in Adair and Wagoner Counties. According to The Oklahoman, he owned eight businesses by July 2013. In December 2021, Mullin sold his businesses to CenterOak Partners, a private equity firm based in Dallas. His family continued to operate the plumbing business.
In September 2012, the Associated Press reported that Mullin Plumbing had received about $370,000 in federal stimulus funds through the Cherokee and Muscogee Nations. Mullin said he was not made aware of the source of the funds; The Tulsa World obtained records from the Cherokee Nation indicating that the firm was aware, but not Mullin. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mullin Plumbing accepted between $350,000 and $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. In August 2022, the White House's Twitter account, then operated by the Biden administration, criticized Mullin for having $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven.
Mixed martial arts (2006–2007) Mullin was a professional mixed martial arts fighter between 2006 and 2007. He claimed a 5–0 record in his brief career. Bobby Kelley, who fought Mullin in 2006, told The New York Times that he considered Mullin "one of the best welterweights around" in the four-state area. Mullin was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. He operated the Oklahoma Fight Club, a jujutsu and mixed martial arts school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, by 2012.
Radio program (2011–2012) By 2011, Mullin had begun hosting House Talk, a call-in radio program for home improvement. The New York Times described the program as similar to NPR's Car Talk. House Talk had several guest hosts; one, Daryl Brown, told the Times that Mullin required those he invited on the show to "prepare meticulously". House Talk was syndicated on Saturday mornings on KFAQ.
Alleged private security work In March 2026, Axios reported that Mullin had privately suggested to colleagues that he was involved in private security work for the U.S. government in the Middle East; the claim had not been made in his campaigns or websites. A spokesperson for Mullin told Axios that he had participated in mission work and mentorship support. After he called war "ugly" and said it "smells bad" on Fox News, Mullin clarified on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that he was referring to special assignments outside the Department of Defense.
U.S. House of Representatives (2013–2023) Initial campaign
In June 2011, Oklahoma representative Dan Boren announced that he would not run for reelection in the United States House of Representatives election for Oklahoma's second congressional district. In July, Mullin established a campaign committee to run as a Republican and reported to the Federal Election Commission that he had loaned his campaign $100,000. Mullin's campaign advisor Trebor Worthen later told the Associated Press that Mullin was "fed up" with a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would have required he provide health insurance to his employees. Mullin traveled throughout east Oklahoma in August and September. His tour culminated on September 6, when he announced his campaign in Sallisaw. By October, Mullin had secured over $300,000 in cash donations, primarily funded by business owners and political action committees, widening his fundraising lead.
In March 2012, the Claremore Daily Progress reported that the Federal Election Commission had received a complaint about Mullin's campaign, alleging that it had accepted contributions exceeding the $2,500 limit for individuals; that it had received donations from corporations; and that Mullin Plumbing had improperly combined its commercials with campaign advertising. Mullin's attorneys requested a response from the commission on whether Mullin Plumbing's ads constituted electioneering in May. That month, the Federal Election Commission's lawyers drafted an opinion that would require Mullin's campaign to disclose his plumbing commercials to the commission, but said that customers who spent over $1,000 on plumbing services would not have to be identified.
The commission's decision to delay its opinion stalled Mullin's campaign and came amid a controversy involving Mullin Plumbing's hiring of Tim Saylor, who was convicted of gun-related crimes in 2009. Police questioned Mullin when Saylor was arrested, and Mullin said Saylor had not been subjected to a background check because he had worked for the company before. Mullin remained ahead of other candidates in finances; according to the Tulsa World, several officials considered him the front-runner in the Republican primary. Seeking to avoid complications weeks before the primary, Mullin said in June that he would no longer appear in ads for Mullin Plumbing.
Mullin received a plurality of votes in the Republican primary on June 26 but not a majority, necessitating a runoff election between him and state representative George Faught. Faught called Mullin a "failed candidate who cannot win". He took a personal approach in the runoff campaign, which intensified after he attacked Mullin for hiring Saylor. Mullin defeated Faught in the runoff on August 28. Rob Wallace, a former district attorney, defeated the businessman Wayne Herriman in his own runoff that day, becoming the Democratic nominee. Tulsa World said Mullin and Wallace disagreed "not so much on the issues as on what the issues actually are".
Mullin's campaign largely avoided debates and descriptions of public policy. He debated Wallace at Rogers State University in October. While Wallace criticized wealthy individuals and businesses and encouraged mass hiring to resolve the national debt, Mullin attacked overreaching government and proposed cutting spending to resolve the national debt. On November 6, Mullin defeated Wallace, securing the first all-Republican delegation for Oklahoma since the 1998 elections. After his victory, Mullin embarked on a tour of his district's 26 counties. In April 2013, the FEC ruled in Mullin's favor, determining that his campaign had refunded improper contributions but reminding it about corporate and excessive contributions.
Early tenure Mullin was sworn into office on January 3, 2013. In his early tenure, his record was largely partisan, according to The Oklahoman. He voted against bipartisan bills to prepare federal agencies for public health emergencies and establish a network for researching pediatric diseases, arguing that the legislation would enlarge the federal government. Despite his partisan record, Mullin advocated for negotiating as opposed to compromising. He established an early-morning workout group that included Massachusetts representative Joe Kennedy III and Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard. Mullin was involved in discussions involving the Affordable Care Act that preceded a government shutdown in October.
On April 8, 2014, Mullin announced that he would seek reelection in that year's election. He was challenged by the professional angler Darrel Robertson, who portrayed Mullin as beholden to special interests; Mullin defeated Robertson in the Republican primary on June 24. He defeated the Democratic nominee, the retiree Earl Everett, in the general election on November 4, but Everett was killed in a car accident hours before the election. Oklahoma Democratic Party chair Wallace Collins said the party would seek a special election but it declined to sue to secure one.
In September 2015, House Speaker John Boehner announced that he would resign, setting off discussions over the party leadership in the House. House majority whip Steve Scalise was expected to run for House majority leader. According to Politico, Mullin had begun a campaign to succeed Scalise hours after Boehner's announcement. In the days after Boehner's announcement, several representatives—including Mullin—announced that they would enter the race for majority whip. Associates of North Carolina representative Patrick McHenry, who was aligned with California representative Kevin McCarthy, believed he had already won the position. In October, McCarthy announced that he would not seek to succeed Boehner in the speakership election after the Freedom Caucus refused to support him, forcing McCarthy to remain as majority leader and Scalise as majority whip. Mullin later served as a deputy whip.
In April 2016, Mullin filed to run in that year's election. He told the Tulsa World that he would not renege on his campaign vow to serve no more than three terms. He faced a challenge from Jarrin Jackson, a United States Army veteran critical of Mullin's vote on a spending bill the previous year. As the June primary approached, the race intensified, particularly after former Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn endorsed Jackson. Mullin defeated Jackson in the Republican primary on June 28, and defeated Democratic nominee Joshua Harris-Till and independent John McCarthy in the general election on November 8.