(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Less than 24 hours after being sworn in as homeland security secretary, Sen. Markwayne Mullin became a target of left-wing criticism — not for his policies, but for his identity as a member of the Cherokee Nation.
Some left-wing social media users questioned Mullin’s heritage despite his status as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and recognition from tribal leadership.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. praised Mullin’s elevation to DHS as a “testament to the resilience, capability and enduring impact of our people.”
Republicans quickly pointed to an apparent double standard, noting that Democrats and the media blindly accepted Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s decades-long claims Native American ancestry
DNA evidence later released by Warren suggested her purported Native American ancestry was limited to six to ten generations ago.
The DNA analysis indicated she could be as little as 1/64 Native American if her great-great-great-grandmother was fully Native, according to reports.
That distant ancestry did not stop Warren from identifying herself as American Indian for nearly two decades, including on a registration card for the State Bar of Texas, according to The Washington Post.
Warren didn't say she had "Native American heritage."
She filled out her 1986 Texas bar registration card by hand writing "American Indian." She claimed she was Cherokee, i.e. a member of Cherokee Nation.
She had Fordham Law Review verbatim list her as Harvard Law School's first… https://t.co/P4tHBeui5i pic.twitter.com/8jF9JT9I6s— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 25, 2026
Cherokee Nation spokesperson Julie Hubbard said that Warren apologized to the nation for the confusion and for releasing the DNA test.
“Senator Warren has reached out to us and has apologized to the tribe,” Hubbard told media outlets then. “We are encouraged by this dialogue and understanding that being a Cherokee Nation tribal citizen is rooted in centuries of culture and laws not through DNA tests. We are encouraged by her action and hope that the slurs and mockery of tribal citizens and Indian history and heritage will now come to an end.”
At the time, Hoskin Jr. — the same Cherokee Nation official who praised Mullin — had sharply criticized Warren’s claims, stating:
“Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”
Hoskin Jr. added that Warren undermined “tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”
In a statement to The Post, Warren said she could not “go back,” but added that she was “sorry for furthering confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and harm that resulted.”
