Markwayne Mullin strikes softer tone but defends Trump policies in Senate hearing

Trump pick to replace Kristi Noem signaled he'd avoid her mistakes but defends president's immigration campaign

Markwayne Mullin defended his ability to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and expressed regrets for comments he made about a US citizen killed by immigration agents at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, which began on an unusually quarrelsome note when a fellow Republican senator accused him of encouraging violence.

Donald Trump earlier this month nominated Mullin, a first-term Republican senator from Oklahoma, to lead DHS, after the president ousted Kristi Noem amid public blowback against the administration's aggressive approach to its mass deportation agenda and the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.