Fetterman Again Breaks Ranks With Dems and Supports Mullin for DHS

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is urging Democratic colleagues to “give someone a chance” and consider backing Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) nomination for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary.

Fetterman reaffirmed on Thursday that he would vote to confirm Mullin, who is set to appear before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing.

“I will vote for him, of course, but I’m unsure how many Democrats could for him,” he told hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby on WABC 770 AM. “I don’t know why. You know, I believe that he and I share a lot about — hey, let’s secure our border. Absolutely. Just focus on rounding up and deporting criminals, and we don’t ever, ever, want the kind of tragedies that happened in Minneapolis.”

“So why can’t you just give someone a chance?” Fetterman asked.

“That returns to that other truth: That no matter what the Republicans say, we have to oppose that and vote against it,” he continued.

President Trump’s decision to fire Kristi Noem was cheered by Democrats, who were angered with her handling of immigration enforcement and oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

However, many stopped short of pledging their support for Trump’s new pick, arguing their dissatisfaction with how the DHS was being run extended beyond one person.

“A change in personnel is not sufficient. We need a change in policy,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters in the Capitol following news of Noem’s ouster.

Still, lawmakers have said they expect Mullin to be confirmed, with Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) describing the senator earlier this month as “competent” and “honest.”

The March 18 confirmation hearing comes against the backdrop of a monthlong DHS shutdown that appears no closer to ending as funding negotiations remain deadlocked.

Senate Democrats blocked a bill to reopen the agency for the fourth time on Thursday, with Fetterman again being the only Democrat to cross over and vote with Republicans to advance the measure.

Also unlike most of his fellow Democrats, Fetterman has not been shy about his support of the war effort in Iran. Last week we said, that Israel should kill Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

“Well, they should kill him, too – hopefully he is significantly wounded,” Fetterman said in a March 11 interview.

“And if he does recover, you know, I do absolutely support having Israel to just eliminate him, you know, along with any other parts of the leadership.”

Fetterman also said the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas need to be killed too.

“I mean, I’m always going to support that,” he said.

However, he did add that his red line for this war was boots on the ground. He also wanted to know why his Democratic colleagues weren’t as supportive of U.S. action in Iran.

“I would just like to remind everybody watching that every single Democratic presidential candidate always identified that Iran is a top, top security issue,” Fetterman said.