The Curious Case of Markwayne Mullin

The Curious Case of Markwayne Mullin

A plumber-turned-senator whose career has been punctuated by fights, financial questions, and a habit of saying the quiet part out loud.

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #805: Thursday, March 5th, 2026.

Politics produces its share of colorful characters.

But every once in a while, someone comes along who seems determined to turn the entire enterprise into a professional wrestling promo.

Enter Markwayne Mullin.

If you’ve followed his career at all, you know this much already:

Mullin doesn’t exactly specialize in quiet, understated public service.

His style is closer to a barroom argument that somehow wandered into the halls of Congress.

Over the years…that style has produced a long trail of controversies…eyebrow-raising moments…and political head-scratchers.

Let’s walk through a few.

The Day a Senator Tried to Start a Fight

One of the strangest moments in modern Senate history happened in November 2023.

During a Senate committee hearing, Mullin got into a heated exchange with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien.

Words were exchanged.

Tempers flared.

And…then…Mullin did something that stunned the room.

He stood up.

Looked across the table.

And challenged the witness to stand up and fight him.

Right there.

In the United States Senate.

The committee chairman had to step in and shut it down before the moment turned into something even more surreal.

For a lot of Americans watching the clip, it was hard to decide whether they were witnessing a Senate hearing or an audition for the UFC.

The “I Pay My Own Salary” Moment

Years earlier, Mullin created another viral moment during a town hall meeting.

Frustrated with critics, he told the audience something that left policy experts shaking their heads.

He said taxpayers don’t pay his salary.

According to Mullin, he pays his own salary.

Which would be impressive…if it were true.

But congressional salaries are, in fact…paid by taxpayers.

The statement spread quickly across political media, becoming one of those moments that gets replayed every time a politician says something that doesn’t quite line up with reality.

The Afghanistan Rescue Adventure

Then there was the episode during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Reports surfaced that Mullin had attempted to organize a private rescue mission to retrieve Americans trapped in the country.

According to reporting at the time…the effort involved attempts to enter Afghanistan from neighboring countries…and pressure on diplomatic officials to assist.

U.S. officials warned that the plan was dangerous and could interfere with ongoing evacuation efforts.

In the end, the mission never materialized.

But the episode raised serious questions about whether a sitting member of Congress should be conducting independent operations in the middle of a volatile military withdrawal.

The Financial Disclosure Headaches

Like many wealthy lawmakers, Mullin has also faced scrutiny over his financial dealings.

Over the years, he has been cited for late disclosures of stock transactions, which are required under the STOCK Act.

The law was passed to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks based on insider information.

Late filings are not rare on Capitol Hill.

But…repeated violations tend to attract attention.

Especially when they involve millions of dollars in transactions.

The PPP Loan Debate

Then came the pandemic.

During COVID relief efforts, Mullin’s plumbing business received forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans worth more than a million dollars.

The loans were later forgiven under the rules of the program.

But…critics pointed out something awkward.

Mullin had previously been vocal in criticizing government forgiveness of certain other types of debt, particularly student loans.

That contrast quickly became political ammunition for opponents.

A Career Built on Confrontation

None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Mullin’s political career.

He has built his public persona around confrontation.

He is blunt.

He is combative.

And…he rarely backs away from a public fight…sometimes literally.

(To be fair, the same could be said of me. However, I’m not a sitting United States Senator who has just been selected as the new top dog at DHS.)

Supporters say that style shows authenticity.

Critics say it reflects a deeper problem in American politics: a growing willingness to treat governance like entertainment.

The Bigger Question

Here’s the thing about controversies.

One or two can happen to any politician.

Politics is messy.

But when the list keeps growing…and when it starts including physical confrontations, financial questions…headline-grabbing statements…and unusual foreign policy adventures…people naturally begin to ask a larger question.

Is this simply a politician with strong opinions and rough edges?

Or…is it someone whose instinct is to escalate first…and reflect later?

Reasonable people will answer that question differently.

But it’s a question that has followed Markwayne Mullin throughout his career.

And judging by the record so far…

It’s unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

A Final Note on the Part People Ignore

Before we end this, it’s worth saying something that’s true whether you like Markwayne Mullin or can’t stand him:

He has built, bought, and run successful businesses.

By any normal measurement…revenue, growth, longevity, the ability to hire people and keep the lights on…he’s operated in the real world and won. That matters. It’s a clue to some of the things about a person I want to know.

You don’t accidentally build a functioning company.
You don’t “luck into” acquiring businesses and keeping them alive.
You don’t stumble your way into payroll, procurement, overhead, and execution year after year and survive. You just don’t.

Whatever else you believe about his temperament, his politics, or the controversies I listed above…business success at that level doesn’t happen by accident.

And…in a role as massive as DHS…where competence is supposed to be table stakes, not a miracle…it’s fair to say that someone who has actually managed complex operations should, at minimum, understand what “results” are supposed to look like.

Now.

Here’s the standard. Mine. Plain and simple.

I want whoever is in this position to:

• Do the job professionally

• Respect and abide by the United States Constitution

• Treat all human beings with dignity

• Understand that human rights are not optional

That’s it.

That’s the bar.

Not vibes. Not party loyalty. Not culture war theater. Not “owning” the other side. Not whatever garbage plays well on cable news that week.

And…anyone…ANYONE…who can demonstrably meet that standard…is someone I will acknowledge as having done a better job than the disturbing shit show we’ve just watched under Kristi Noem.

Because DHS is not a stage.

It’s a power center.

And it demands adult supervision.

Am I Optimistic That Someone Can Do This…Even If They Want To?

No. Here’s why.

Because the real issue isn’t the individual in the chair.

It’s the person they ultimately answer to.

Donald Trump has shown, repeatedly and publicly…that he expects loyalty to him personally above loyalty to institutions…norms…or even the law itself.

Cabinet officials. Advisors. Attorneys general. Military leaders. Many entered his orbit believing they could operate professionally inside the system.

Most of them learned the same lesson.

Sooner or later, they were asked to choose between doing the job correctly and doing what Donald Trump wanted done.

And…the ones who chose the first option didn’t last very long.

That pattern has played out again and again: people hired for competence, then pressured for loyalty. When loyalty wins…professionalism suffers. When professionalism wins…the person is pushed out.

That’s the structural problem.

Even someone who genuinely wants to run a department responsibly…respecting the Constitution, respecting human dignity, respecting the limits of government power…will eventually run into the same test.

Follow the law.

Or…follow the boss.

And under Donald Trump…history suggests that conflict eventually comes for almost everyone.

I don’t like Mullin. I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t like me. That’s not the standard.

I want him to do the job professionally. I’m not confident he can, inside Trump’s system. But I hope…truly…I’m wrong.

#HoldFast

Back soon.

-Jack
Jack Hopkins

P.S. If you’re reading this in your inbox, tap “View in app” for a second and leave me one sentence in the comments: What’s the one thing you want to see from DHS over the next 90 days that would prove “adult supervision” is back?