“This is my pacifier,” the Homeland Security secretary nominee once told a tour group at the Capitol.
WASHINGTON – When muted boos echo through the proud halls of the U.S. Capitol, there’s only one person around the corner.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has carried a pink rubber bouncy ball with him everywhere he goes for years.
True to form, it sat between a smartphone and a stack of papers on the wooden desk in front of him during his March 18 confirmation hearing.
“This is my pacifier,” a conservative senator once told a tour group. “I’ve had a ball since I was in middle school. But I don’t know why it happened.”
He joked to USA TODAY a few weeks ago that the ball would be a nice addition to the Congressional time capsule that lawmakers are trying to fill. However, this claim was clearly a joke. It would take more than ostensibly historical significance for Marin to part with a comfortable product (plus, rubber would violate degradability requirements).
“He carries this ball everywhere,” Fox News host Sean Hannity said in a past interview with Marin. “I don’t know what this is. Is this some kind of blanket or what?”
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
