Sen. Markwayne Mullin was MAHA before MAHA was law

Sen. Markwayne Mullin made then-Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts throw up so often that he gave his Democratic colleague the nickname “Chuckie.”

And Mr. Kennedy kept coming back for more.

It’s all part of Mr. Mullin’s morning workouts that he’s led for years on Capitol Hill. They are legendary for their toughness — and for the Oklahoma Republican’s insistence that nobody besmirch the event with political talk.

Those who cross the line are ordered to do burpees, an intense combination of squats, pushups and jumps.

“I used to call Joe Kennedy ’Chuckie’ because he would throw up all the time,” Mr. Mullin said in a new episode of “The Sitdown with Alex Swoyer,” a Washington Times podcast.

The 48-year-old senator, who served 10 years in the House before claiming the Senate seat in 2023, attended college on a wrestling scholarship before dropping out to take over his father’s plumbing business. He later competed professionally in mixed martial arts, acquiring a 5-0 record.

That’s made him a source for all things athletic on Capitol Hill.

He named some of Congress’ fittest members over 60 — putting Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota at the top of his list.

“He is in really good shape,” Mr. Mullin said of the 64-year-old Senate GOP leader.

He also said Republican Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas (71) and John Barrasso of Wyoming (73) “get after it.”

On the Democratic side, he said Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey is dedicated to the morning workouts.

“He doesn’t miss, and if he does, he calls. He always calls me and asks what my workout was,” Mr. Mullin said.

Mr. Mullin is particularly proud of the bipartisanship he’s managed to forge. That includes lawmakers who were competing for the same Senate seat — or, in one case, the presidential primary — showing up to work out.

And when the political noise got too intense, Mr. Mullin had his ways of shutting it down.

“I would smoke them on burpees until they would just shut up,” he said.

“It’s one hour we don’t have to talk about politics,” he said. “There’s a bonding, that people bond together when you’re ’embracing suck.’ That’s what I call it. The workout’s going to be awful, and that bonding’s still there.”