Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who happens to be tight with President Donald Trump, just filed disclosure paperwork revealing he bought shares in 10 different companies to kick off 2026. Here's what makes this interesting: unlike his recent shopping sprees where he loaded up on household-name tech giants, this round features significantly smaller companies that don't exactly dominate dinner table conversations.

A Shift Toward Smaller Fish

According to recent disclosures, Mullin made all 10 purchases on January 5, 2026. Each stock got two separate buys ranging from $15,000 to $50,000, which means he dropped somewhere between $300,000 and $1 million total on this basket. Here's the full lineup with their market caps:

• Adobe Inc (ADBE): $110 billion
• Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR): $10.9 billion
• APi Group Corp (APG): $18.5 billion
• Citigroup Inc (C): $207 billion
• Carpenter Technology Corp (CRS): $17.4 billion
• Firstcash Holdings (FCFS): $7.8 billion
• Stride Inc (LRN): $3.7 billion
• McKesson Corp (MCK): $118 billion
• Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR): $55.4 billion
• VSE Corp (VSEC): $4.4 billion

A quick scan of these names tells you something: most of these companies trade below the $20 billion mark. Two of them, Stride and VSE Corp, don't even crack $5 billion in market capitalization, putting them squarely in small-cap territory or at the low end of mid-cap range.

The VSE Purchase Raises Questions

Among the purchases, VSE Corp stands out for reasons that go beyond its small size. VSE specializes in aftermarket products and services, and they've built a nice business landing government contracts over the years. The company routinely handles maintenance, repair, and overhaul work for government entities. In 2023, they secured a $565 million contract to service Air Force aircraft.

Now here's where it gets a bit eyebrow-raising: Mullin serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He also sits on multiple subcommittees, including ones focused on Airland and Seapower. So you've got a senator who helps make decisions about defense spending buying stock in a company that generates revenue from defense contracts. It's the kind of thing that makes watchdogs perk up.

MarketDash will be keeping tabs on future government contracts that VSE announces to see if any potential conflicts of interest emerge from Mullin's investment.

What Mullin Was Buying Before

This small-cap focused disclosure represents quite the pivot from Mullin's previous moves. Just before this, on December 29, 2025, the senator filed paperwork showing he'd purchased multiple Magnificent Seven stocks. In fact, he bought at least $50,000 worth of six out of the seven tech behemoths, skipping only Tesla in that buying spree.

Mullin also disclosed picking up Magnificent Seven names back in November. His largest Magnificent Seven position from 2025? That would be Microsoft Corp (MSFT), where he put the most money to work.

This isn't the first time Mullin's trading activity has drawn scrutiny either. MarketDash has previously flagged trades he made in defense sector companies that could represent conflicts given potential military actions in Venezuela and elsewhere, combined with his Armed Services Committee role.

The senator has also run into disclosure problems. In 2025, Mullin violated the STOCK Act by reporting transactions he made in 2023 a full two years after the fact. The STOCK Act requires members of Congress to disclose trades within 45 days, so filing two years late is, shall we say, not ideal.

Whether Mullin is making shrewd bets on undervalued small-caps or creating uncomfortable questions about conflicts of interest probably depends on where you sit. Either way, when a senator with committee assignments that directly impact the industries he's investing in starts buying stocks, people notice.