WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s nomination of Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to be the next head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Sunday advanced toward final confirmation after the Senate voted 54-37 to limit debate on the appointment.
The confirmation vote could come sometime on Monday. If approved, as expected, Mullin would replace Secretary Kristi Noem, whom Trump fired on March 5.
Mullin’s confirmation was all but assured on Thursday when the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to send it to the full chamber despite opposition from the panel’s chair, Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican.
If confirmed, Mullin, a member of the Cherokee Nation, would be the second Native American to serve as a cabinet member.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Sergio Non and Chris Reese)
