参议院周一以54比45的投票结果确认参议员马克韦恩·马林担任国土安全部部长。
两位民主党人——宾夕法尼亚州参议员约翰·费特曼和新墨西哥参议员马丁·海因里希——加入了共和党人的投票，确认马林的提名。肯塔基州共和党参议员兰德·保罗投了反对票，就像他早些时候说的那样。
此次投票正值人们对DHS治下的移民镇压和驱逐以及该部门正在进行的部分关闭感到强烈不满。
马林是第一任期的共和党参议员，也是唐纳德·特朗普总统的热情支持者，他将在几乎没有国土安全经验的情况下接管DHS。在他的上周的确认听证会，Mullin说他将努力工作以赢得部门员工的尊重。
“我将每天和他们一起工作，不仅仅是保卫家园，给中情局带来安心和信心。我六个月的目标是我们不会每天都成为头条新闻。我的目标是让人们明白我们在那里，我们在保护他们，我们在与他们合作，”马林在他的确认听证会上说。
马林的确认投票是在DHS部分关闭期间进行的，运输安全管理局，联邦紧急事务管理局和DHS下属其他机构的员工没有工资。
在繁忙的春运季节，旅客们在全国各地的机场排起了长长的队伍。周日创下了自1998年以来的最高呼叫率的新纪录旅游储蓄协会(Toursit Saving Association)根据该机构最新发布的数据，自政府部分关闭以来，官员比例为11.76%。
唐纳德·特朗普总统周末宣布他将从周一开始派移民和海关执法人员到机场协助运输安全管理局官员。
特朗普本月早些时候提名马林领导该机构，此前解雇秘书克里斯蒂·诺姆。他的决定是在一周灾难性的听证会在国会山为诺姆和问题，她的个人和职业关系，而领导DHS。
在Renee Good和Alex Pretti被联邦执法机构杀害后，Noem因其在明尼阿波利斯处理ICE业务而受到批评。审查结束后，她被调离明尼苏达州的领导岗位，边境事务主管汤姆·霍曼(Tom Homan)被派去接管。
在确认听证会上，穆林被问及当他回应时，他对Good and Pretti枪击案的反应诺姆和白宫副主任斯蒂芬·米勒的初步声明称Pretti是“一个进来造成最大损害的精神错乱的人。”
诺姆后来收回了她的评论，声称她当时没有掌握所有的事实。
“我想这是我在我们谈话时私下说的。那些话或许应该收回。我不应该这么说，”马林对民主党参议员加里·彼得斯说，并补充说他“在没有事实的情况下立即做出了回应。”
“那是我的错。作为秘书，这是不可能的，”马林说。
霍曼周一告诉ABC新闻的基拉·菲利普斯，他支持穆林，并期待着作为DHS的秘书与他合作。
“我们每天都说话，如果不是一天几次的话。我认为他是正确的人，正确的时间和正确的工作，”霍曼说。“我认为他会进来，你可以在过道对面工作，我认为，我认为我们在不久的将来会有很多好事情。”
Senate confirms Sen. Markwayne Mullin as DHS secretary
The Senate on Monday confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security by a vote of 54-45.
Two Democrats -- Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico -- joined Republicans voting to confirm Mullin. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against the confirmation as he earlier said he would.
The vote came amid backlash over the immigration crackdown and deportations under DHS as well as the ongoing partial shutdown of the department.
Mullin, a first-term Republican senator and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, will take over DHS with little homeland security experience. During hisconfirmation hearing last week, Mullin said that he will work hard to earn the respect of people at the department.
"I'll work beside them every single day to not just secure a homeland, to bring peace of mind and confidence to the agency. My goal in six months is that we're not in the lead story every single day. My goal is for people to understand we're out there, we're protecting them, and we're working with them," Mullin said at his confirmation hearing.
Mullin's confirmation vote comes during ongoing DHS partial shutdown -- with employees of Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies under DHS not getting paid.
Travelers are experiencing long TSA lines at airports around the country during a busy spring travel season as TSA agents call out. Sunday set a new record with the highest call out rate fromTSAofficers since the partial government shutdown began at 11.76%, according to newly released data by the agency.
President Donald Trumpannounced over the weekendthat he would send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports starting on Monday to assist TSA officers.
Trump nominated Mullin to lead the agency earlier this month, afterfiring Secretary Kristi Noem. His decision came aftera week of disastrous hearingson Capitol Hill for Noem and questions about her personal and professional relationships while leading DHS.
Noem has faced criticism over her handling of ICE operations in Minneapolis after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement. She was removed from leading operations in Minnesota following the scrutiny, and Border Czar Tom Homan was sent in to take over.
During his confirmation hearing, Mullin was asked about his response to the Good and Pretti shootings when he echoedinitial statements from Noem and White House deputy chief Stephen Miller, calling Pretti "a deranged individual that came in to cause max damage."
Noem later walked back her comments, claiming she did not have all of the facts at the time.
"I think I said this privately when we had a conversation. Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn't have said that," Mullin said to Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, adding he was "responding immediately without the facts."
"That's my fault. That won't happen as secretary," Mullin said.
Homan told ABC News' Kyra Phillips on Monday that he is behind Mullin and looks forward to working with him as DHS secretary.
"We talk every day, if not several times a day. I think he's the right guy, the right time and the right job," Homan said. "I think he's going to come in and you can work across the aisle, and I think, I think we got a lot of good things coming in the near future."
