Trump Removes Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would replace embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Markwayne Mullin, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, following a week of contentious congressional hearings that intensified scrutiny of her leadership and the department’s handling of immigration enforcement.

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Trump announced the change in post on Truth Social, saying Mullin would become Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security effective March 31. Noem, he said, would instead serve as “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” a role tied to a new regional security initiative his Administration plans to unveil this weekend in Florida.

The decision marks one of the most high-profile personnel changes of Trump’s second term so far and the first time he has removed a cabinet secretary since returning to office. It follows another prominent shake-up earlier this year when Trump replaced his National Security Adviser Mike Waltz after the controversy surrounding a Signal group chat leak of sensitive war planning discussions.

Noem, a former governor of South Dakota, had been a central figure in carrying out the Trump Administration’s aggressive immigration agenda, one of the top issues that Trump campaigned on. As head of DHS, she oversaw agencies responsible for border security, immigration enforcement and disaster response, and became the most visible public face of the Administration’s sweeping deportation campaign and crackdown along the southern border.

But her tenure was marked by mounting controversies that eroded support inside and outside the Administration. Over the past several months, DHS has faced intense scrutiny after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis earlier this year, sparking protests and calls for investigations into the agency’s tactics.

Read more: How Trump’s ICE Became an Agency in Crisis

The turmoil has coincided with a standoff in Congress over funding for the department. Its budget authority lapsed in mid-February, forcing a partial shutdown affecting agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard, while Democrats have pressed the White House for changes to immigration enforcement practices as a condition for restoring full funding.

Trump’s frustration with Noem escalated sharply this week after she appeared before congressional committees for oversight hearings. Lawmakers from both parties questioned her about a $220 million government advertising campaign encouraging undocumented immigrants to leave the United States voluntarily—a campaign that prominently featured Noem herself.

At one point during questioning from Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, Noem said the President had signed off on the ad campaign. The statement reportedly angered Trump, who said he had not approved the initiative.

“I never knew anything about it,” Trump later said in an interview with Reuters.

The firm that handled the ad campaign was connected to the husband of Noem’s former spokesperson, drawing further scrutiny. Noem defended the contract process, telling lawmakers that it had gone through a “competitive process” and was “all done correctly, all done legally.”

During the hearings, Noem was also questioned over her relationship with Corey Lewandowski, a Trump ally who ran his 2016 campaign and works as a special adviser at DHS. Noem and Lewandowski have both publicly denied rumors of an affair.

While the details of Noem’s appointment as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas are unclear, she wrote in a post on social media that she will work closely with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”

Reflecting on her tenure running DHS, Noem added: “We have made historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again: 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.”

Democrats immediately celebrated Noem’s ouster, but cautioned that replacing her would not resolve their deeper concerns about DHS. The party has remained largely unified in its refusal to advance the stalled annual Homeland Security funding bill without several measures, including requirements for court-issued warrants before agents enter private property, clear identification and badge numbers for agents, limits on masks, expanded use of body cameras, new use-of-force standards, and ensuring independent investigations of shootings.

“The President has fired Kristi Noem—good riddance,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. “But the problems at this agency transcend any one person. The rot is deep. The President has to end the violence and rein in ICE.”

Mullin, a close ally of Trump, served a decade in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate. Trump noted that he is a member of the Cherokee Nation and the only Native American currently serving in the Senate.

“A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter, Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda,” Trump wrote in his announcement. “Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN.”

Before entering politics, Mullin ran a plumbing business and was a mixed martial arts fighter with a professional record of 5-0. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.

“There’s a lot of work we can do to get the Department of Homeland Security working for the American people,” Mullin told reporters outside the Capitol after the announcement, adding that DHS has a “very broad jurisdiction.”

Asked what lessons he’s picked up from Noem’s tenure, Mullin responded: “She was tasked to do a very difficult job and I think she has performed the best she can do. And underneath the circumstances is there’s always lessons that can be learned… there’s an opportunity to build off successes, and there’s also opportunities to build off things that maybe didn’t go quite as planned.”

Once formally nominated by Trump, Mullin is expected to face confirmation hearings in the Senate, where he will be grilled by Democrats over his plans to oversee the Administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. At least one Senate Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has announced that they would support Mullin’s confirmation. 

Schumer was non-committal when asked if Democrats would block any DHS secretary nominee from being confirmed. “I don’t trust any one person being in charge of this agency, as long as Trump is President, given the policies he’s espoused,” he told reporters.

If confirmed, Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt would be responsible for appointing a temporary replacement to fill the Senate vacancy. He has vowed to “appoint a strong, small government conservative voice to support President Trump and protect Oklahomans’ way of life.”