US president Donald Trump has fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, following two days of testimony in Congress, where she was grilled over her department leadership.
Trump announced he’s replacing Noem with Republican Senator Markwayne Mullion from Oklahoma. Mullins will need to be confirmed by the Senate but is allowed, under federal law, to serve as acting Homeland Security while his nomination is formally pending.
“A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter, Markwayne truly gets along well with people,” Mr Trump said.
“Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICAN SAFE AGAIN.”
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said Noem “will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland’.”
This ousting makes Noem the first Cabinet secretary to leave the Trump administration in the president’s second term. Over the course of his first term, Trump had five DHS secretaries.
Noem’s leadership
A former South Dakota governor, Noem has been at the helm of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, carrying out mass deportations. Her leadership has faced bipartisan criticism, in particular over her deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into Minneapolis, killing two US citizens and terrorising community members.
One of the victims, 37-year-old Alex Pretti, was described by Noem as a “domestic terrorist” before any investigation into the incident had occurred. Noem included another Minneapolis victim, 37-year-old Renee Good, within her description of “domestic terrorism”. This response saw her denounced by both Republicans and Democrats.
Noem also received scrutiny over a US$220 million ad campaign to encourage people living in the US illegally to leave voluntarily. She claimed Trump approved the ad campaign, however, on Thursday, Trump reportedly said he did not approve the campaign.
Beyond immigration, Noem was criticised as well for the pace of emergency funding approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for the Trump administration’s response to disasters.
Noem’s response
In early March, Noem was asked to testify before the Senate and House judiciary, during the third week of a shutdown of the DHS, after Congress failed to pass a budget to fund the department. Noem said 100,000 employees were furloughed, including those working in cybersecurity and disaster relief.
In her testimony, Noem attempted to justify the tactics used by ICE agents for immigration enforcement, along with spending at the DHS and her leadership broadly.
Following her ousting as homeland security secretary, Noem posted to X to thank Trump for appointing her as the “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas”, adding that she looks forward to working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “to dismantly cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed children and grandchildren.”
“The Western Hemisphere is absolutely critical for U.S. security. In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security,” she said, describing her DHS leadership as full of “historic accomplishments”.
“We delivered the MOST secure border in American history, 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S., we have located 145,000 children, FEMA delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate, we ushered in the golden age of travel, saved the American taxpayer $13 billion and revitalized the U.S. Coast Guard.”