The US Senate confirmed on Monday that Marquardt Mullin will be the new Secretary of Homeland Security. Mullin (48 years old) will take up his post at a time when the Department of Homeland Security has been paralyzed by a budget deadlock for over a month. The Senator from Oklahoma, whose portfolio has become a major point of contention in the US recently, was approved with 54 votes in favor and 45 against. A parliamentary committee held hearings with Mullin last week, following the dismissal of Minister Christie Noem. The Democratic opposition has refused to approve funding for the department as long as wide-ranging reforms to its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency are not implemented.
