The U.S. Senate has confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as the Department of Homeland Security Secretary in 55-45 vote.
Mullin succeeds former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. President Donald Trump fired her from the position in March in the aftermath of the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The vote to confirm Mullin largely followed party lines, with Democratic senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico voting to confirm and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voting against confirmation.
Mullin takes the lead at DHS as the department remains in a shutdown, in which U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents and other DHS employees have been working without pay since Feb. 14.