Markwayne Mullin, Sean O'Brien bury the hatchet following near fight
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More than a year since they almost came to blows, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) are friends.
Why it matters: Mullin touted his newly forged bond with O'Brien at a Wednesday Senate hearing for former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez DeRemer, President Trump's Labor Secretary nominee.
The big picture: It was a sign of how Trump has pushed the Republican Party off the traditional path on union and labor issues.
- Chavez-DeRemer was seen as a controversial choice given her past support for a pro-union piece of legislation, widely loathed by business groups and the GOP generally.
- She walked back that support during her hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — and Republican senators on the committee signaled they would get behind her nomination.
The intrigue: During his introductory remarks for Chavez-DeRemer, Mullin also dished about his relationship with O'Brien. He said their friendship should set an example for how folks on opposite sides can work together.
- "If Sean and I can move and come together on this, then that, if nothing else, should set some type of an example," Mullin said.
- Then things got a little weird: "I do joke with my new friend over here, which I had the mic and he can't defend himself here, that if we were in a relationship, I'd be the man in the relationship," he said, echoing comments he made in a video of the pair with Chavez-DeRemer released earlier in the day.
- "Now we're friends enough that we can make fun of each other, and at the same time we can work together," he said at the hearing.
Flashback: During a 2023 Senate hearing, Mullin challenged O'Brien to a fight before the same committee questioning Chavez-DeRemer. At the time, Mullin was upset over a tweet from O'Brien, who called him "a clown & fraud."
- "Quit the tough guy act in these senate hearings. You know where to find me. Anyplace, anytime cowboy," O'Brien wrote.
- During the hearing, Mullin said: "Sir, this is a time. This is a place," adding: "You want to run your mouth. We can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here."
- They did not, in fact, finish it. Things quieted down after a reprimand from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The bottom line: Sometimes enemies to lovers happen outside the pages of a romance novel.
