Mullin is the second Cherokee Nation citizen elected to the Senate and the first tribal citizen to be a Senator in about twenty years. If he becomes Secretary of the Interior, he will be the second Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.
A report from the national media outlet NOTUS speculates that Mullin may be tapped as cabinet secretary of either Veteran Affairs or the Department of the Interior, with the latter being more likely.
In the past, he worked with tribal leaders in his former district as a U.S. representative for the second congressional district, which included lands of the Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee and Chickasaw tribal nations.
He’s often advocated for tribal sovereignty and hit the campaign trail for Trump, preaching the importance of energy independence for the country and tribal nations.
“Why is tribal land treated like public land?” Mullin said at a Trump event in North Carolina during the presidential campaign. “You have drilling rigs and natural resources being pulled out of the ground right across the fence from reservations. You have private landowners that are extremely wealthy and you have people that are literally starving inside the reservations.”
He introduced legislation as a senator to improve IHS services through healthcare provider recruiting and retention.
Mullin is also widely known for a viral fight challenge last year, in which he criticized a teamsters’ union official and told him, "If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here."
As noted by Mark Trahant, ICT editor-at-large and Shoshone-Bannock citizen, in an APTN article, Mullin is “very close to president-elect Trump and will be a key voice in his administration. Whether or not he becomes his (Trump’s) representative within the Senate or he becomes in the actual administration running an agency. Either way, he’s going to have input.”
In a statement to KOSU, a spokesperson for the Senator did not deny interest in working in the administration. But, stated, “President Trump and Senator Mullin have not spoken about any cabinet positions.”
Katie Hallum contributed to this story.
