Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump's pick to replace ousted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, appears to be days away from confirmation to lead the embattled department.
Mullin has represented Oklahoma in the United States Senate since 2023, and previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023.
Senators held a hearing to confirm Mullin to the DHS post on Wednesday, and his nomination was advanced by a committee vote on Thursday after Pennsylvania's Democratic Senator John Fetterman crossed party lines to support the nominee.
The Oklahoman is known for his unusual name, which is a combination of two monikers. The unique amalgamation has a deeply personal connection to his family, as he is damned after his uncle Mark and Wayne - both of whom were childless, he once told Roll Call.
'My father was the youngest boy of eight children, and he had two brothers who did not have any sons. And since I was the youngest of seven in my family, I was named after both of them,' he said at the time.
Prior to entering politics, the Oklahoman had a brief stint as a mixed martial arts or MMA fighter. He left the sport in 2012 with an undefeated 5-0 record and was later inducted into the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.
The senator is known as a firebrand and even challenged the Teamsters president to a brawl during a Senate hearing in 2023.
'This is the time, this is the place, you want to run your mouth, we can be consenting adults, we can finish it here,' he said.
US Senator Markwayne Mullin (R) and wife Christie Mullin (L) arrive for a hearing for the position of US Secretary of Homeland Security at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 18 March 2026.
Mullin seen working out in a video posted to his Instagram page
'Okay, that's fine, that's perfect,' Sean O'Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, replied.
'You want to do it now?' Mullin replied.
'I'd love to do it now,' O'Brien said, to which Mullins responded, 'Well, stand your butt up then.'
'Stand your butt up,' O'Brien mimicked.
Mullins, however, did stand up, fists clenched, while fellow Senator Bernie Sanders admonished him and told him to 'sit down.'
'You're a United States Senator, sit down,' Sanders said.
O'Brien had taken to X prior to the hearing to challenge Mullin to a fight. He also called Mullin a 'clown' and a 'fraud,' which infuriated the former fighter.
Mullin attended Missouri Valley College on a wrestling scholarship but later dropped out of school at the age of 20 after his father Jim fell ill and he needed to help with the family plumbing business.
Mullin would go back to school in 2018, eventually achieving an associate's degree in applied science in construction technology from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology.
He is the only senator without a bachelor's degree.
Mullin and his wife of nearly 30 years, Christie, would expand the family business into the largest in the region and also started other successful companies.
He and his wife have six children, including two adoptive twins, Ivy and Lynette.
The Oklahoman, who was a businessowner prior to serving in public office, had a multi-year ethics investigation into him, which resulted in the politician paying back $40,000 that was 'mistakenly paid to him.'
He was accused of still being involved in the businesses. The committee ultimately decided he had made a 'good faith effort' to comply with the ethics rule.
Mullin also worked as a cow-calf rancher prior to becoming a representative.
He grew up on a farm in Westville, where his family still resides today.