Trump nominee Mullin expected to receive quick confirmation as DHS chief
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
A Senate committee later today is expected to give a quick confirmation to Markwayne Mullin, a first-term Republican senator from Oklahoma, to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Mullin was nominated by US president Donald Trump after Kristi Noem was ousted amid public blowback against the administration’s aggressive approach to its mass deportation agenda, which resulted in the killings of two US citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis.
The Democrats have forced the DHS into a partial shutdown until their demands for guardrails on immigration enforcement are met.
The issues at the heart of the standoff are set to come up this morning, when Mullin’s confirmation hearing begins before the Senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs.
“I am grateful to President Trump for nominating me to lead the US Department of Homeland Security,” Mullin, who was elected to the Senate in 2022 after serving five terms in the House of Representatives, said on social media earlier this month.
“I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the Senate and carrying out president Trump’s mission alongside the department’s many capable agencies and the thousands of patriots who keep us safe every day.”
Republicans have praised his nomination, and their control of the Senate gives them the numbers to push his appointment through even if Democrats oppose him. Democrats have been quiet about Mullin, with party leaders saying that their demands for reforms to immigration operations won’t change regardless of who leads DHS.
The confirmation is expected to begin at around 9.30am ET.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
A top counter-terrorism official in the Trump administration resigned over the ongoing war on Iran. Joe Kent, who reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said in his resignation letter that he “cannot in good conscience” support the conflict.
Gabbard responded in a statement that did not refer to Kent directly, but argued that Trump “is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat”.
The House oversight committee subpoenaed attorney general Pam Bondi to appear for a deposition on the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
The Senate passed a measure to start debate on the legislation to restrict voting in US elections in a number of ways, by a vote of 51-48, along mainly partisan lines, with only Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican, crossing party lines.
During the annual St Patrick’s Day Shamrock ceremony at the White House, Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, gently made the case for free trade and a rules-based order before presenting Trump with a bowl of shamrocks.
While Trump and his aides spent much of Tuesday deriding Kent, critics of the administration pointed out that Kent’s ties to rightwing extremists meant that he was never fit for the role in the first place.
Key events
George Chidi
Illinois lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary race to succeed Illinois’ US senator Dick Durbin, beating out US representative Raja Krishnamoorthi.
With nearly 90% of the vote tallied, Stratton was leading Krishnamoorthi by more than six percentage points on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press.
“We did it,” Stratton said of her upset victory. “Tonight we showed what’s possible when you listen to the people and give the people what they want.
“Courage inspired me to run. Courage powered this campaign and courage will bring this fight straight to Donald Trump’s front door,” she said, as the crowd in Chicago wildly applauded.
Stratton, a progressive with the support of governor JB Pritzker, had been behind Krishnamoorthi in polling until recent weeks, when an infusion of cash from the governor and a hardening sentiment on immigration pushed aside the relatively moderate congressman. Stratton also faced competition on her left from congresswoman Robin Kelly, which threatened to split the progressive vote. Kelly drew less than 20% of the vote, according to the Associated Press.
Michelle R Smith
When Robert F Kennedy Jr ran for president as a Democrat in 2023, he found an unexpected ally in Scott Brown. A former Republican senator, Brown had begun a tradition of hosting Republican presidential candidates for barbecues in his New Hampshire back yard, where they could stump for votes and get attention ahead of the state’s crucial primary.
Kennedy became Brown’s first Democratic invitee. His appearance in September 2023 drew hundreds of people, Brown’s biggest crowd ever. Kennedy held Brown in such high regard that after he decided to run instead as an independent, he reportedly reached out to Brown as a possible vice-presidential running mate, though Brown declined.
Later, Brown – now running for Senate in New Hampshire – said he helped Kennedy prepare for his Senate confirmation hearings for the job of US health secretary.
Newly released records obtained by the Guardian shed further light on the men’s relationship and how Brown – who had been appointed to serve as ambassador to Samoa and New Zealand by Donald Trump during his first term – responded to a controversial trip Kennedy took to Samoa in June 2019. Months later, Kennedy’s visit would become a subject of public scrutiny when measles swept through the Pacific island nation. Samoan officials and health leaders said Kennedy, who made the trip when he was the head of a US anti-vaccine organization, bolstered the credibility of local anti-vaccine activists ahead of the outbreak, which killed 83 people, mostly children under age five.
Kennedy has said he had “nothing to do with people not vaccinating in Samoa” and that he never told anybody there not to vaccinate.
US senators to grill Trump intelligence team from 10am ET
Senators will get the chance today to question top aides to president Donald Trump in public about national security, nearly three weeks into the Iran war as the Senate intelligence committee holds its annual hearing on worldwide threats to the United States.
The hearing is likely to focus on the Middle East conflict, as lawmakers – including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, as well as Democrats – have said they want more information about a war that has killed thousands of people, disrupted the lives of millions and shaken energy and stock markets, Reuters reported.
Democrats in particular have complained that the administration has not kept Congress adequately informed about a conflict that has cost US taxpayers billions and demanded public testimony rather than the classified briefings held in the past two weeks.
The testimony from officials including director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe is also likely to touch on the shock announcement on Tuesday that a top aide to Gabbard had resigned, citing the war.
Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, is the first senior official in Trump’s administration to resign over the conflict. The Office of the DNI oversees the counterterrorism center and Kent is close with Gabbard, who has kept a low profile since the Iran war began.
Trump nominee Mullin expected to receive quick confirmation as DHS chief
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
A Senate committee later today is expected to give a quick confirmation to Markwayne Mullin, a first-term Republican senator from Oklahoma, to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Mullin was nominated by US president Donald Trump after Kristi Noem was ousted amid public blowback against the administration’s aggressive approach to its mass deportation agenda, which resulted in the killings of two US citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis.
The Democrats have forced the DHS into a partial shutdown until their demands for guardrails on immigration enforcement are met.
The issues at the heart of the standoff are set to come up this morning, when Mullin’s confirmation hearing begins before the Senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs.
“I am grateful to President Trump for nominating me to lead the US Department of Homeland Security,” Mullin, who was elected to the Senate in 2022 after serving five terms in the House of Representatives, said on social media earlier this month.
“I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the Senate and carrying out president Trump’s mission alongside the department’s many capable agencies and the thousands of patriots who keep us safe every day.”
Republicans have praised his nomination, and their control of the Senate gives them the numbers to push his appointment through even if Democrats oppose him. Democrats have been quiet about Mullin, with party leaders saying that their demands for reforms to immigration operations won’t change regardless of who leads DHS.
The confirmation is expected to begin at around 9.30am ET.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
A top counter-terrorism official in the Trump administration resigned over the ongoing war on Iran. Joe Kent, who reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said in his resignation letter that he “cannot in good conscience” support the conflict.
Gabbard responded in a statement that did not refer to Kent directly, but argued that Trump “is responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat”.
The House oversight committee subpoenaed attorney general Pam Bondi to appear for a deposition on the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
The Senate passed a measure to start debate on the legislation to restrict voting in US elections in a number of ways, by a vote of 51-48, along mainly partisan lines, with only Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican, crossing party lines.
During the annual St Patrick’s Day Shamrock ceremony at the White House, Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, gently made the case for free trade and a rules-based order before presenting Trump with a bowl of shamrocks.
While Trump and his aides spent much of Tuesday deriding Kent, critics of the administration pointed out that Kent’s ties to rightwing extremists meant that he was never fit for the role in the first place.
