WASHINGTON (AP) — Markwayne Mullin, the White House pick for homeland security secretary, made a case to fellow senators Wednesday that he would be a steady hand for a department roiled by controversy under Kristi Noem, but signaled he would follow President Donald Trump's immigration priorities and pushed back on concerns over his temperament for the Cabinet post.

The Oklahoma Republican faced questions from members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about his vision for a department tasked with carrying out the Republican administration's push for mass deportations. Democrats have halted routine funds for the Department of Homeland Security in a weekslong standoff as they demand restraints on immigration officers after the death of at least three American citizens at the hands of federal agents.

Mullin teared up at some moments during the hearing on his nomination and fought back at others, as he spoke of his family’s relationship with Trump and his own commitment to the president’s agenda. The senator said he regretted statements he made about a Minneapolis man killed by immigration officers.

“I can have different opinions with everybody in this room, but as secretary of homeland I’ll be protecting everybody,” Mullin said. “My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.”

The hearing was Mullin’s first opportunity since being nominated to present his plans in public for the government's third-largest department. Noem was fired this month following mounting criticism of her leadership.

Mullin sheds light on his immigration views

In his opening remarks and in answers to senators' questions, Mullin emphasized the need to restore the flow of money to the department.

“We have to get DHS funded. We have to, my friends. We have to set the partisan side down. And we have to realize that we’re putting our homeland and the peace of mind at risk for the American people,” Mullin told senators.

He praised DHS employees who are working without pay: "We should all be trying to fund them.”

Trump's immigration agenda and how Mullin intends to implement it are key issues for Democrats. Trump's policy of mass deportations agenda is at a crossroads, and Mullin will be under pressure to achieve Trump's goals when the public mood has soured over aggressive immigration enforcement operations.

Mullin said officers would no longer enter a home or a place of business without a warrant signed by a judge, except in limited circumstances. The current practice is that officers can go into a home just on the basis of a warrant signed by another ICE officer, raising concerns that constitutional protections are being skirted.

He expanded on — and expressed some regret — about comments he made immediately after the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis. Addressing his remarks that Renee Good's shooting was justified, Mullin said the officer had to make a “split decision in that case.” But having described Alex Pretti as a "deranged individual,” Mullin now said he spoke too quickly without the facts and as secretary he would not do the same.

On whether DHS should meet quotas for the number of immigration arrests it makes, Mullin said none had been set for him.

Committee chair says Mullin ‘applauds violence’

The first part of the hearing was marked by a fiery opening statement by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who heads the committee.

Paul sought to challenge Mullin's fitness for the role, pointing to comments that Mullin had made after a funding fight, when he called Paul a “freaking snake.” That rhetoric echoed Trump’s criticisms of Paul, who frequently goes it alone upending Senate procedures over his own priorities.

“I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force?” Paul said.

According to Oklahoma conservative talk show host David Arnett, who wrote about the remarks on his Substack, Mullin recently called Paul “a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did. And I told him that to his face.”

One of Paul's neighbors several years ago had tackled and injured him over a lawn care dispute.

Mullin refused to back down to Paul, in a display that Trump is likely to expect and appreciate.

“For you to say I’m a liar, Sir, that’s not accurate,” Mullin said.

Speaking of Paul, Mullin said, “We just don’t get along.”

Mullin, the Trump ally

Mullin is a former mixed martial arts fighter who ran a plumbing business in Oklahoma before running for Congress. If confirmed, he is expected to be a faithful ally for Trump's agenda.

“Whether it be protecting the homeland from bad actors, stopping dangerous drugs from flowing into American communities, or removing the worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullin will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an emailed statement.

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the committee's top Democrat, said Democrats were asking for “straightforward” changes at DHS in line with rules and that police departments follow.

Peters underlined the challenges that Homeland Security is facing, from threats from Iran to criminal hackers, and said the department needed someone with a “steady hand." But Peters said he had reservations about whether Mullin was ready for the job.

As the latest partial government shutdown drags on, there have been long security lines at a growing number of U.S airports as security screeners go into another month without pay. Republicans have charged that Democrats are risking the nation’s national security by blocking funding to the department.

DHS endured turmoil under Noem

Under Noem, intense enforcement operations were launched in places including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, where immigrants were rounded up in arrest sweeps and protesters clashed with federal officers.

Activists and politicians accused DHS officers of smashing car windows, roughing up bystanders who tried to record their activities and detaining immigrants in squalid conditions. The shooting deaths contributed to the growing criticism of Trump’s immigration agenda.

DHS has said that its officers are responding with force only when necessary and it has activists and politicians, who they say are dialing up the rhetoric against federal officers.

Mullin also faced questions about the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which is in the middle of tumultuous changes after Trump said he wanted to overhaul the agency, if not eliminate it.

Mullin said he would look to “restructure” FEMA.

Under Noem’s leadership, all contracts above $100,000 had to wait for her approval. That led to long delays for states desperate for reimbursements for money they had s spent on things such as storm debris removal.

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Associated Press writer Gabriela Aoun Angueira contributed to this report.