'Hothead' GOP senator replacing Kristi Noem dragged on CNN: 'Do you know how sad that is?'

President Donald Trump finally fired his long-embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and panelists on "CNN This Morning" chewed over his nominee to replace her.

The 79-year-old president tapped Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who is probably best known for challenging Teamsters President Sean O'Brien to a fight during a Senate hearing, to lead DHS after firing Noem, and the panelists argued over the Oklahoma Republican's qualifications for the cabinet role.

"It's a different vibe," said New York Times podcaster Lulu Garcia-Navarro. "So he doesn't bring a lot of that kind of baggage to it, and yes, as we've seen there, he is certainly has his own persona. I mean, if you have to break up a fistfight and Bernie Sanders is your man to kind of make you sit down, kind of interesting, I think, you know, maybe you're a bit of a hothead."

Michael Warren, senior editor at the conservative Dispatch publication, approved of Mullin's nomination.

"You could do a lot worse than Markwayne Mullin," Warren said. "I think he's popular on Capitol Hill. You've heard even Democratic senators say that he's competent, and, really, when you think about DHS, it's a huge department and it needs management more than anything else, I think."

Garcia-Navarro interjected to point out that Mullin had no experience leading an agency the size and scope of DHS, and Warren didn't disagree.

"I agree he has no experience in that," Warren said. "But I do think he has the support of Donald Trump, which is obviously the most important thing, and he has no ambition. You know, Kristi Noem, I think, had presidential ambitions. Markwayne Mullin does not, as far as I know, and I think, you know, if you're looking for somebody who can execute his policy, you could do worse than Markwayne Mullin."

Garcia-Navarro lamented the low bar the conservative journalist had set for the president's nominee.

"Do you know sad that is, though?" she said, and Warren threw up his hands.

"Well, you know, that's the reality," Warren said.

"He's loyal to the president," Garcia-Navarro continued. "He has no experience with the thing that is the most important thing, to protect the homeland, during a conflict in the Middle East where threats are escalating towards the homeland, and this man has 0.0 experience with any of it. This is a huge agency."

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