President Donald Trump‘s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin brought along some support for his tense hearing with the House Appropriations Committee: a stress ball.

Mullin repeatedly grabbed hold of and squeezed the ball as he testified about DHS oversight on Thursday. It was particularly noticeable as he clashed with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

At one point, DeLauro snapped, “Don’t interrupt me!” as she pointed her finger at the secretary.

“Don’t you point your finger at me,” he clapped back, pointing his finger at her as he simultaneously clutched the stress ball. “Don’t be a hypocrite.”

DeLauro proceeded to grill Mullin about funding for the Department of Transportation.

“Given all that the Transportation Security [Administration] did for us during a Republican shutdown, how can it be that the Department’s position is that TSA workers should not be granted the same basic labor protections as federal enforcement officers?” DeLauro pressed.

Mullin latched onto the words “Republican shutdown.”

“Well, actually, it was the Democrats that voted every time to shut them down,” he said. “Republicans voted every time to open them up. We didn’t shut them down, you shut them down.”

“Answer my question!” DeLauro demanded.

“I did,” Mullin said, stress ball in hand.

The scene intensified as Mullin spoke over DeLauro, “I’m factually correct! You voted to shut them down. Republicans voted to open them over, and over and over again—”

He continued without taking a breathe as the Chairman of the Committee tried to reign it, informing Mullin that DeLauro had the floor, despite Mullin’s protestations.

Social media erupted into a frenzy over Mullin’s stress ball, with journalist Aaron Rupar writing on X, “Even the Republican committee chair is losing patience with Markwayne Mullin, who is gripping a stress ball as he clearly struggles to control his temper.”

Another social media user suggested Mullin would need a bigger stress ball to handle the standoffs.

Watch above via CSPAN.

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