Kristi Noem Out as Homeland Security Secretary Following Congressional Criticism Over Spending, ICE Tactics

President Trump will nominate Senator Markwayne Mullin, the conservative from Oklahoma, to be his new Secretary of Homeland Security after making the decision to fire the current DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, on Thursday. Ms. Noem’s handling of immigration issues became a major political problem for the president, though it appears that her testimony before a Senate committee this week may have sealed her fate. Ms. Noem has come under scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats alike for how government contracts are being awarded to political allies, how she is spending money on luxury jets for the department, and for an alleged affair with her top advisor, Corey Lewandowski. When asked about that alleged affair during congressional testimony on Wednesday, she did not deny that she and Mr. Lewandowski had been in a relationship. In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump said that Ms. Noem “served us well,” but will be leaving the department at the end of the month. He says she will be a special envoy to a new security initiative for the western hemisphere, called “The Shield of the Americas,” which will be officially announced during Mr. Trump’s meeting with Latin American heads of state in Florida this weekend. “I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Markwayne will make a spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security.”Mr. Mullin was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012, and later won a special election to the U.S. Senate in 2022. He and the president are friends, traveling to events together and speaking about policy matters on the Hill. Leaving the Capitol on Thursday shortly before the Truth Social post went out, Mr. Mullin declined to comment on any potential nomination to lead DHS, saying only that he had spoken to the president earlier in the day.In a statement released following the announcement, Ms. Noem thanked Mr. Trump and said she looked forward to her new role. “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.Ms. Noem has consistently ranked as one of Mr. Trump’s most well-known and least-liked cabinet officers, after voters soured on his mass deportation campaign. Ms. Noem came under even more fire earlier this year when she claimed, without evidence, that Alex Pretti attempted to commit an act of domestic terrorism before being shot by DHS officers in Minnesota. This week, Ms. Noem answered questions in front of both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees as part of standard oversight processes for her department. At the Senate committee hearing, some Republicans were not shy about their distaste for Ms. Noem’s leadership style. One lawmaker, Senator John Kennedy, led her down a line of questioning which may have finally sealed her fate. He asked her about a $220 million, taxpayer-funded advertising campaign which she approved to trumpet the administration’s message about mass deportations. Mr. Kennedy was not thrilled that Ms. Noem is featured in the ads.“How do you square that concern with waste, which I share, with the fact you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?” Mr. Kennedy asked during the hearing on Tuesday. He wanted to know if Mr. Trump had signed off on the campaign — a possibility that Mr. Kennedy expressed skepticism about.“You’re testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time?” Mr. Kennedy asked. At first, she dodged the question, saying only that she had had “conversations” with the president about the ads. “No, ma’am,” Mr. Kennedy said, cutting her off. He pressed her again on the question of whether or not Mr. Trump explicitly approved those ads. At that point, Ms. Noem responded, “Yes.”When she said that the ads had been effective, Mr. Kennedy quipped, “Well, they were effective in [boosting] your name recognition.”Mr. Trump, however, contradicted Ms. Noem’s testimony in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. “I never knew anything about it,” Mr. Trump said when asked by the outlet about the ad campaign.

Kristi Noem Out as Homeland Security Secretary Following Congressional Criticism Over Spending, ICE Tactics

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