While Sen. Markwayne Mullin's (R-OK) confirmation hearing for Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) was not as fiery as some have been, it had its moments of incredulity and even rank stupidity, as Democrat senators attempted to weave their narratives and achieve their soundbites. Chief among them was "Seditious Six" member Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) whose job was apparently to use her intel spy craft to trap Mullin into the need for "ICE reform," and for him to reject what she perceived as his election denialism surrounding the 2020 Election.
As expected, she tried to come off as reasonable and moderate, pretending her aims were bipartisan. Slotkin led with the recent terrorist attack on a Jewish synagogue in Michigan, declaring how the Jewish community has to spend large sums of money to secure and protect their spaces. Slotkin alleged that the DHS non-profit security grant program was flawed and in need of reform.
She then asked if Sen. Mullin would agree to work with her to see reform of the security grants process. Mullin had no pushback on this, and stated that he would "absolutely welcome an opportunity" to work with Slotkin on this issue.
Read More: Mullin’s Emotional Moment Underscores Urgency of DHS Funding Fight
Feeling as though she had perfectly set up Mullin, Slotkin went in to spring what I am sure she considered to be a sure-fire trap:
SLOTKIN: I think, you know, in general, your position — or your future position as Secretary of Homeland Security, sits at like, the fulcrum of these big issues that we're having in this country. Just big cultural issues. The use of law enforcement in our streets, and where our rights begin and end. And then, our elections. Our democracy. And given the importance of that, I think it's important that we state really clearly where you are on these two issues. First and foremost, on the use of ICE.
Here we go. Slotkin blathered on, framing the issue of immigration enforcement from her leftist lens: "American citizens killed in their streets for protesting," children caught in the "crossfire" and being "teargassed," people randomly being pulled from their cars because they look foreign, demands to "show me your papers," yada yada yada. [emphasis added]
One of Slotkin's most egregious frames was, "they have seen people, law enforcement go into people's homes without a judicial warrant. For a country that was invented because we were being oppressed by a foreign force that demanded entry into our homes."
Excuse me? She parroted the Howard Zinn version of how America was founded, like the CIA programmed plant that she is.
Slotkin went on:
SLOTKIN: So, you say you don't want ICE in the news, you say you want to rebuild trust. Your predecessor was fired because she couldn't manage that, and people had to go in and bring the temperature down. Can you, without other words, just state clearly what you'd be willing to do to fundamentally reform ICE and put into law to do so, since that trust is gone.
Slotkin knew full well what she was asking, and that it wasn't within the powers of the secretary of DHS to make laws. Mullin wisely didn't take the bait.
MULLIN: Ma'am, as you know, I can't make the law, you guys make that.
SLOTKIN: But you're going to be the secretary!
MULLIN: I agree, but I can't make the law, I can work within the parameters.
SLOTKIN: No, but tell us what you'd be willing to put into law.
Slotkin made a show of backtracking, but once again inserted the fake narrative that DHS creates its own laws and enforcement, rather than enforces the laws that the legislative branch—Congress—has already set in place. So disingenuous. If Slotkin could continue to embed this illusion of a DHS secretary creating laws, then she could continue to beat the drum of Trump wanting to be a king, instead of the duly-elected head of the executive branch.
Mullin dodged her deceptive framing.
MULIIN: Right now, the law that I work into is you guys' decision. We'll work through that. But I do believe there's a better approach. I would love to see ICE become a transport, more than the front line.
Mullin continued to put the onus on federal partnership with law enforcement, and staying within the parameters of the law. "A partnership is vitally important, I don't think there needs to be a law to change that." he said.
Slotkin didn't like this direction away from her narrative of ICE enforcement as a rogue arm of DHS, so she interrupted him.
SLOTKIN: I understand, I understand, but I would, I would just, we're not going to agree to this here. But I would just say the ability, the trust is gone, and not just with Democrats. That's why we're here, that's why your predecessor was fired. There needs to be fundamental reform of this law enforcement agency and I think that the public, writ large, is crying out for that.
No, Elissa, we're not. But do go on with your rantings.
Mullin once again made an attempt to further elaborate, but Slotkin wasn't going to waste more of her precious five minutes allowing Mullin to continue to get the upper hand. So, she moved on to the Democrats' renewed hobbyhorse: Trump is going to steal the elections in 2026 and 2028.
SLOTKIN: Let me turn to elections. The Department of Homeland Security has the mandate since the Obama era for securing our elections infrastructure. That's an important job, and you'll be secretary. The president has continued to say that he won the 2020 election even though there's been 60 court cases saying the opposite. He has said he wants to federalize the elections, he has said, name-checked cities, including Detroit. He has said voting machines are inaccurate, he has said in the State of the Union, I was on the Senate floor, paraphrase, that if his side doesn't win in November then the elections were rigged, which is the exactly what he said eight months before the 2020 elections. You have your own history, you did not certify the 2020 election. There are people at the Department of Homeland Security, three people significantly, who are well-known election deniers now running election security functions.
Who won the 2020 election?
Once again, Mullin didn't even entertain Slotkin's attempt to frame the subject. He also didn't address his role as a member of Congress, but what his role and duty would be as the secretary of Homeland Security.
WATCH:
🚨 JUST IN: Markwayne Mullin REFUSES to play the game when Sen. Elissa Slotkin asks him, "who won the 2020 election?"
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 18, 2026
"Ma'am: we know that Joe Biden was sworn into office."
SLOTKIN: "That's not-"
MULLIN: "My job as DHS Secretary is to make sure we assure elections are FAIR and… pic.twitter.com/yU4HJXz6Mo
MULLIN: Ma'am we know that President Joe Biden was sworn into office, he was the president for the last four years, but I do believe...
SLOTKIN: [Flustered] That's not, — who do you believe won the election?
MULLIN: I believe my job as Department of Homeland Security secretary will be to make sure that we assure that the elections are fair and people can trust them.
SLOTKIN: Does the federal government run the elections process or do states?
MULLIN: It's very clear in the Constitution that the states control state elections and then there is some federal oversight that's on it, but the federal government can set some standards. So, if you're talking about the Save America Act, requiring you, which is within the Constitution by the way, requiring individuals to be citizens of the United States, I don't think it's too much to ask somebody to prove they're a citizen of the United States.
Very clever of Mullin to insert the Save America Act as it is currently before the full Senate for debate and a vote. Slotkin didn't appreciate Mullins' redirect. She had failed once again to get the soundbite she wanted, so she pushed back.
SLOTKIN: That's not what we're talking about, I'm talking about administering the elections. If you are Secretary of Homeland Security, do you feel you have the authority to put uniformed officers at polling locations in 2026?
As someone who was a member of military and the CIA, Slotkin knows full well how chain of command and military deployments work. But the narrative train was in full acceleration, with no brakes, so there was no stopping the madness.
Mullin pulled out what Slotkin would have liked to have been kept in the dark out into the light. He said, "Ma'am, we said this in your office. The only reason why my officers would be there is if there's a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation."
Here is where Slotkin dropped any pretense of being a reasoned senator and turned into a TDS-riddled left-wing Karen. Slotkin evoked imagery of armed soldiers in front of polling places. That is a reality that only one party wants to see happen, and it's not the Republicans.
SLOTKIN: So, even though we didn't need it during World War II, we didn't need it during Vietnam or the War on Terror, we've never had to put uniformed military there. Now, you feel that there's going to be a reason, there's going to be an armed threat to the United States that you need to potentially be there?
MULLIN: No, Ma'am, I said, I can't sit there and guarantee hypothetically what threat there would be or not, I can't put in the military, that's not within my role. If there is a threat, a specific threat, say it is in the Jewish community, and there is a threat that's specific to that polling area, then we will work with local law enforcement, there will be a reason for us to be there, and it'll be known why we're there.
SLOTKIN: I think the reason you're here, and not Kristi Noem, is because Americans trust their local law enforcement now, way more than they trust ICE. So, I would just say if we ever get to the point where you are being asked to put armed ICE officers at polling locations, we have lost the plot as a country. We have fundamentally lost it. And until I hear someone tell me that, that, this man, President Trump, will actually allow us to have a free and fair election, there is zero trust here, and I cannot trust that he won't try and steal it — AGAIN!
Definitely unhinged. Fully detached from reality. What a tragedy that Michigan is stuck with her until 2030.
WATCH:
.@SenatorSlotkin: "Until I hear someone tell me that this man, President Trump, will actually allow us to have a free and fair election, there is zero trust here, and I cannot trust that he won't try and steal it — again!"
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 18, 2026
Totally unhinged and detached from reality. pic.twitter.com/IpeLNPhlxK
Slotkin's time had expired, but her faithful colleague Sen. Andrew Kim (D-NJ) picked up the rusty saw and tried to hack at it. Mullin once again made a plug for the Save America Act. If only United States citizens are voting in elections, then there should be no problem. One outlet felt Mullin dismissed concerns about sending uniformed officers to polling locations, and that the door was left wide open for this to happen in November.
Election denialism is just fine to Dems, as long as they're the ones talking about it.
WATCH:
Markwayne Mullin dismisses concerns about sending uniformed officials to polling locations and left the door open to deploy forces in November.
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) March 18, 2026
"Senator, I don't understand what the concern... If we're at a polling area, it's because of a specific threat, not for immigration." pic.twitter.com/BSfnjBxhZQ
While less hyperbolic than Slotkin or Kim, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) also tried, and failed, to get Mullin to relitigate the 2020 election. Gallego tried to get Mullin to cast pre-judgment on how DHS resources were being used to investigate election irregularities. Gallego claimed HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) agents who were his "friends" told him they were being diverted from investigating child sex trafficking and child abusers to "investigate this false conspiracy."
WATCH:
🚨 Sen. Ruben Gallego presses DHS nominee Markwayne Mullin on 2020 election results, asking directly about Arizona during tense exchange.pic.twitter.com/SNrcwC07vB
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) March 18, 2026
Gallego said boo about the Biden administration losing those 300,000 unaccompanied minors. So, this newfound concern rings as hollow as these tired tactics by the Left to seed doubt over the 2026 midterm election and the 2028 general election continue.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member