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The former MMA fighter running DHS

Markwayne Mullin, a Trump loyalist with an unconventional record, takes over Homeland Security at a moment of crisis.

President Donald Trump got a mulligan in former Sen. Markwayne Mullin — a second shot at filling the top job at the Department of Homeland Security. Trump fired his first pick, Kristi Noem, amid mounting criticism of her leadership and management of the agency.

Mullin, a plumber-turned-MMA fighter-turned-firebrand politician, was confirmed to his new post on Monday. Now, he takes over an agency muddling through a series of ugly messes, from a funding shutdown that’s causing chaos at US airports to an aggressive, and often violent, mass deportation campaign.

Is Mullin the guy to clean all this up? Only time will tell. But there are some clues in his (genuinely entertaining, often surprising) record. Today, we take a look at the man newly charged with overseeing US border security, immigration enforcement and emergency response… at a moment when that’s a pretty difficult job.

Understand the world with a daily explainer, plus the most compelling stories of the day.

Who is Markwayne Mullin?

As his concatenated first name might suggest, Markwayne Mullin contains multitudes. The 48-year-old Republican has worked as both a US senator and a plumber. He’s a hardcore MAGA conservative and an........

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