President Donald Trump Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and says heâll nominate in her place Oklahoma Republican
Trump made the announcement on social media on Thursday, two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from GOP members as well as Democrats.
Trump says heâll make Noem a âSpecial Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,â a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trumpâs second term. Noemâs departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits.
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Hegseth says Noem did âan excellent jobâ as DHS chief
During a news conference Thursday at U.S. Central Command, Defense Secretary said Noem had done âa great job setting us up for successâ and commended her âexcellentâ work on border security.
âThe president is making a change,â he said. âWe all serve at the pleasure of the president.”
Asked if he worried about the safety of Americaâs homeland during the war, Hegseth said he did not, adding that he felt Mullin âwill do a fantastic job.â
Mullin expressed little faith in FEMA after Hurricane Helene
Trumpâs pick to replace Noem has in the past expressed skepticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of DHS and which the Trump administration has considered .
âIf we have to wait on the federal government to respond, weâre going to be waiting for the rest of our life,â Republican of Oklahoma told Fox Business in 2024, shortly after Hurricane Helene ravaged parts of North Carolina, Florida, and other states.
âItâs not FEMA thatâs going to respond, itâs the local people that are going to respond and weâre going to be fighting with FEMA to get reimbursed if they ever do reimburse,â Mullin said.
Illinois governor glad to see Noem go
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat who was critical of Noem and DHS even before ICE agents swarmed Chicago last fall in a sometimes-violent immigration crackdown, offered a blunt reaction.
âShouldnât let the door hit her on the way out. Itâs frankly not too soon,â Pritzker, who has been mentioned as a presidential candidate in 2028, said, adding his hopes that Mullin will do better.
âItâs a pretty low bar,â he said. âWe saw shootings and we saw breaking the law, we saw corruption under Kristi Noem, so, not sure you could do worse.â
Jeffries calls Noemâs removal a âfirst stepâ in overhaul of DHS
âWe made clear weeks ago that Kristi Noem must be fired or she would face impeachment. Her well-deserved termination is long overdue, consistent with what we have demanded,â said Hakeem Jeffries in a statement.
Jeffries contended that under Noem âtaxpayer dollars have been weaponized by DHS to kill American citizensâ and that the secretary âparaded around in a luxury jet and wasted public funds to glorify her ICE Barbie self-image.â
Jeffries promised further action against DHS after Noemâs departure from the agency.
âKristi Noemâs removal is only the first step towards reforming the lawless Trump DHS. A change in personnel is not sufficient,â said Jeffries, who called for âbold, meaningful and transformational changes.â
Immigrant, refugee organizations reacts to Noemâs departure
Some of the most important immigrant organizations in the U.S. quickly welcomed Noemâs departure as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security but said they did not see her replacement by Sen. Markwayne Mullin as a radical change.
âKeeping communities safe â including those of our immigrant and refugee neighbors â are what should be most important to any government official,â said Beth Oppenheim, CEO of HIAS, one of the oldest refugee organizations in the U.S.
âWe call on all leaders in this administration â including the incoming Secretary â to lead with the utmost respect and dignity for the most vulnerable across our country.â
Separately, Krish OâMara Vignarajah, President and CEO of the refugee resettlement organization Global Refuge, said in a statement that her departure is an âopportunity to course-correct.â
âThe past year has been marked by policy whiplash, the erosion of long-standing humanitarian protections, and mounting instability for immigrants, employers, and the communities that depend on them,â said Vignarajah.
Bipartisan government watchdog warns Noemâs removal is just a first step
Common Cause, a bipartisan government watchdog with active members in every U.S. Congressional district fighting for government accountability, said Noemâs removal from DHS âis an important step toward restoring democratic governanceâ but warns that âthe fight is long from over.â
âKristi Noemâs removal is a hard-won victory for Americans who refused to stay silent,â said Virginia Kase SolomĂłn, president and CEO of Common Cause. âThis is a powerful reminder that in a true democracy, no official is above the law.â
âLong overdue:â Immigration advocacy groups react to Noem firing
Some immigration advocacy groups are welcoming Noemâs firing but also cautioning that more changes are needed to bring about what they say is needed accountability.
In a statement the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights said her departure is âlong overdue.â
âFor immigrant communities across the country, her leadership represented a dangerous escalation of policies that treated families and workers as targets rather than as human beings,â the group said.
But they cautioned that removing her was only the first step and said the next secretary must ensure transparency and that agencies within DHS treat immigrants with âbasic human respect.â
Americaâs Voiceâs executive director Vanessa CĂĄrdenas said in a statement that Noemâs tenure was âmarked by crueltyâ but also said that the problem wasnât just with Noem. They said there needs to be real accountability for organizations like ICE and Border Patrol.
Federal judge this week said Noem could be deposed in FEMA lawsuit
Two days before Noemâs ouster, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered that the secretary could be questioned under oath in a lawsuit opposing staff cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
District Judge Susan Illstonâs decision was âvery unusualâ said Laurie L. Levenson, law professor at Loyola Marymount Universityâs Loyola Law School.
âItâs an indication that the court was really frustrated because theyâre not getting a straight story from the government,â Levenson said.
A coalition led by labor unions sued the Trump administration in January after it didnât renew expiring contracts for hundreds of term-limited disaster employees.
Illston issued the order after a government attorney Tuesday made statements contradicting a sworn declaration by FEMAâs acting leader, Karen S. Evans.
Noemâs dismissal didnât necessarily mean she couldnât still be deposed, said Levenson, though the defendants might argue she no longer represents the government in this case.
Mullin called GOP senator whoâll oversee his nomination a âfreaking snakeâ
Mullinâs nomination will go through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. That panel is chaired by , a Republican whom Mullin recently criticized as a âfreaking snakeâ to a group of voters in Tulsa.
The comment came as Mullin described how Paul – who frequently defects from his own party in foreign policy, federal spending and other matters – proposes legislative measures that could tank a bigger package, such as appropriations bills and a farm bill.
âRand Paulâs a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did. And I told him that to his face,â Mullin said, according to Oklahoma conservative talk show host David Arnett, who wrote about the remarks on his Substack.
Mullin was referring to a 2017 attack in which Paul was assaulted by a neighbor who tackled him and broke several of his ribs in a dispute over lawn maintenance.
White House: Trump thankful to Noem, Mullin is âextraordinarily qualifiedâ
The White House press secretary says the administration will work with the Senate to confirm Mullin to replace Noem âas quickly as possible.â
Karoline Leavitt said Mullin was âextraordinarily qualifiedâ for the post. She added that Trump was âgratefulâ to Noem for âhelping usher in the most secure border in American history.â
âPresident Trumpâs immigration agenda is keeping our borders secure and deporting illegal alien criminals from our country, and it will continue without interruption,â Leavitt said in a post on X.
Noem sharply criticized for her handling of FEMA
Noem has faced blistering criticism from lawmakers of both parties recently about her handling of the , which is part of DHS, including a policy that she personally approve agency expenditures of $100,000 or more, which critics say has slowed billions of dollars in disaster reimbursements to states and even delayed emergency response.
âYouâve failed at FEMA,â Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Noem during a Senate Judiciary Committee for delayed funds for Hurricane Helene recovery.
Noem has said FEMA should â â and has been accused of trying to weaken the agency by slowing reimbursements to states, and .
The disaster agency is on its since last January and lost at least 2,445 employees in the period between January and June 2025, nearly 10 percent of its workforce.
What is the ‘Shield of the Americas?’
Trump said he is appointing Noem to serve as his âSpecial Envoy for The Shield of the Americasâ as he announced her ouster from DHS.
Trump is gathering with the leaders of 11 Latin American countries for a âShieldâ summit on Saturday at his golf club in Doral, Florida.
The name of the gathering is supposed to reflect Trumpâs vision for U.S. national security strategy to put a greater emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, as he looks to leverage U.S. military and intelligence assets unseen in the region since the end of the Cold War. The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago have confirmed theyâll attend, according to the White House.
Noem, speaking in Nashville, confirmed she will be at the summit and that Trump will announce âa big agreementâ that will detail âhow weâre going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.â
Noem reacts to her ouster
âThank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,â Noem wrote on X. She added that she looked forward to working with top administration officials âto dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.â
âIn 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,â Noem wrote. She also said that, during her tenure, the department âdelivered the MOST secure border in American historyâ and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had âdelivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate.â
The post followed Noem making no mention of being ousted during a more than 30-minute address and question-and-answer session at a law enforcement event in Nashville.
Noem was the face of immigration enforcement
Noem made hers the face of immigration enforcement, often putting herself in the center of the action.
She sometimes dressed in a flack jacket and accompanied agents on immigration raids as cameras recorded, though she does not have a law enforcement background.
She also behind bars during a March visit to an El Salvador prison where the Trump administration sent people it accused of being gang members.
Noem doesn’t mention her firing during speech
Noem spoke for more than 20 minutes, but didnât mention her firing as she spoke to the Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference in Nashville on Thursday.
Even when she began answering audience questions, no one mentioned it. Asked about future law enforcement grants, Noem seemed to suggest that she would continue to be on the job.
âI think your best options for funding alternatives would be through some grants that with the department, we have specific grants towards, terrorism grants,â she said at one point. âSo maybe what Iâll do is I will forward those grant opportunities to all of you so that you can share them with your departments and have that opportunity.â
Mullin would take office at a pivotal time
Mullin would take over the third largest department in government that has responsibility for carrying out Trumpâs hard-line immigration agenda. And he takes the office at a pivotal time for that agenda.
Immigration enforcement during the first year of Trumpâs administration was largely defined by high-profile, made-for-social-media operations with flashy names that were often led by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who reported directly to Noem.
Noem herself often went out on those operations, riding along with officers when they went out to make arrests.
But those high-profile operations in places like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, often led to clashes with activists and protesters that were captured on video and drove opposition to the presidentâs immigration agenda.
That culminated with the shooting deaths in Minneapolis after which Trump sent in his border czar Tom Homan to take direct control of the operation in Minneapolis. Bovino was also reassigned.
Noem becomes another Trump official to be offered a soft landing
Noem is the first Trump Cabinet member to be ousted from her post, but the president lining up a for her is actually part of a trend.
Trump announced that Noem will become a âSpecial Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.â Thatâs a new security initiative that the president said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Former national security adviser was nominated as United Nations ambassador after he mistakenly added a journalist to discussing military plans last year.
Trump also tapped IRS Commissioner to be his ambassador to Iceland after Long contradicted the administrationâs messaging in his less than two months in the job.
And Trump said in August that State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce would be deputy representative to the U.N. after leaving the State Department.
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