Tensions were high Wednesday as Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for a confirmation hearing. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), the panel’s chairman, opened his remarks by confronting Mullin for calling Paul a “freaking snake” and suggesting that he understood why Paul was assaulted by a neighbor in 2017. Mullin, a close ally of Trump, would replace Homeland Secretary Kristi L. Noem after she departs March 31. The hearing comes as DHS has been partially shut down since Feb. 14 amid a congressional impasse over a funding bill.
