WATCH: Mullin, a Trump ally, avoids saying Biden won the 2020 election in DHS confirmation hearing

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., asked Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to say who won the 2020 presidential election in a confirmation hearing Wednesday. Mullin is a Trump ally who voted against certifying the 2020 election results and has boosted the president’s repeated falsehoods that the election was stolen. “Ma'am, we know that President Joe Biden was sworn into office,” Mullin said before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Slotkin interjected to repeat her question on who Mullin thought won the election. “I do 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,” he said. Slotkin then asked, if confirmed, would Mullin put the agency’s officers at polling locations during the 2026 midterms. “The only reason why my officers should be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation,” he said. Trump tapped Mullin to take over the embattled agency from Kristi Noem, who was fired earlier this month after her leadership came under bipartisan scrutiny during tense congressional hearings. Mullin was elected to Congress in 2012 and has branded himself as a businessman and a Washington outsider. As Homeland Security secretary, Mullin, a former business owner, would take charge of one of the biggest government agencies, leading the nation’s disaster response, counterterrorism efforts, border security and the president’s mass deportation agenda. A former mixed martial arts fighter who once challenged the Teamsters president to a fight during a Senate hearing, Mullin has pledged to stay “focused on protecting the homeland" if he is confirmed. The Republican Party is considering a pivot on how it approaches immigration enforcement as more voters grow concerned over DHS agents’ aggressive tactics, which has led to the shooting deaths of at least three U.S. citizens since Trump retook office. Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show. Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins: https://to.pbs.org/41q6E8i Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6 Follow us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews X: http://www.twitter.com/newshour Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour