GOP Rep. Kevin Hern announced his campaign Wednesday for an open Senate seat in Oklahoma to replace Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who President Donald Trump tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Hern, who chairs the Republican Policy Committee, is the first high-profile GOP candidate to officially enter the race for Mullin’s seat, which was already on the ballot this year.

Trump nominated Mullin last week to lead DHS. He’d replace ousted Secretary Kristi Noem, whose leadership amid his immigration crackdown caused months of turmoil and negative press for the agency.

Trump’s choice of a sitting senator sets up a reliable path to confirmation, with some Senate Democrats already open to voting for their colleague in the chamber.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will have 30 days to appoint a temporary replacement to serve the remainder of the term. But per state law, the interim senator must pledge not to run for a full term — and with an already thin Republican House majority, Stitt may be less inclined to appoint a sitting House member.

In his announcement video, Hern positioned himself as a staunch Trump ally and defender of the president’s “America First” agenda. His campaign has already lined up support from several Senate Republicans, including Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

First elected to Congress in 2018, Hern currently represents Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Tulsa.

The filing deadline for the seat is April 3, and the primary election will take place June 16.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Wednesday suggested that the Justice Department should admit it made a mistake by launching an investigation related to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Asked by reporters about a potential off-ramp to his objections to moving any Fed nominees — including President Donald Trump’s pick for chair, Kevin Warsh — until the DOJ probe is resolved, Tillis responded: “I’m not going to try and help them out of a box canyon.”

“There’s one way out of a box canyon,” he added. “It’s admitting you made a mistake.”

The Justice Department issued subpoenas in January to the Fed, probing Powell’s statements to Congress about the central bank’s headquarters renovations. The probe was revealed by the Fed chair himself in an unprecedented video message where he accused the administration of using the investigation to pressure him to lower interest rates. Tillis has expressed similar fears.

“You got seven witnesses at this alleged scene of the crime — Republican members of the Banking Committee, including the chair, who said no crime was committed,” Tillis said. “What part of this is not reaching the point of the absurd?”

The senator also said in a post on X that he was awaiting clarification from the D.C. District Court, an apparent reference to an effort by the Fed to challenge the subpoenas. Typically, pre-indictment grand jury proceedings remain sealed.

Tillis said it was his hope that the issue would be resolved in time for Warsh to be confirmed to take over as Fed chief when Powell’s term ends in May.

He met with Warsh on Tuesday and said in his post that, “He possesses impeccable credentials and a clear vision for maintaining the Fed’s independence while achieving its dual mandate. It is unfortunate that an ongoing investigation prevents me from voting.”

Connor O’Brien and Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.

DORAL, Florida — House GOP leaders discussed trying to attach military aid to a party-line policy package during a closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon, according to three people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations.

Speaker Mike Johnson and his team are weighing a variety of options, including the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process, to pass some or all of the tens of billions of dollars in funding they expect the Pentagon to request in the coming days to assist in the U.S. conflict with Iran.

The leadership meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the House GOP policy retreat in Florida this week, comes as Republicans are still weighing whether they can even muster the votes for another megabill given their razor-thin margins and the tight window in which to legislate during an election year.