Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R–Okla.) might have been expecting to sail through the Senate and ultimately be confirmed as outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem's replacement at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). But there's a senator from his own party standing in his way, and that senator has an extremely legitimate grievance.
Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.), chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, squared off against Mullin during a tense hearing on Wednesday. Paul castigated Mullin for having previously made light of the brutal beating of Paul in 2017, when his neighbor attacked him. As Reason's Jacob Sullum noted in his own coverage, Paul sustained serious injuries, including six broken ribs, and had to have part of his lung removed. Yet Mullin previously said that Paul is a "freaking snake" and that "I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did."
