Under the pressure of his increasingly unpopular mass deportation campaign, President Donald Trump fired Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem on March 5.
Noem is the first cabinet secretary to be dismissed after an eventful year for the 54-year old, as she oversaw Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) during its increased deportation operations across the United States.
Trump wrote on TruthSocial, “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.”
“She burnt up a ton of goodwill,” one White House Adviser told Axios.
During Noem’s tenure as Homeland secretary, ICE came under large amounts of scrutiny for its questionable practices and use of force.
In particular, the killings of American citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents.
According to one administration official, Noem was fired because “a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures including the fallout in Minnesota, the ad campaign, the allegations of infidelity, the mismanagement of her staff and her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies, including CBP and ICE.”
Another White House adviser said, “Minneapolis was just a disaster. We were supposed to be stopping fraud from Somalian illegals. But we wind up shooting two people in the middle of the streets.”
The same adviser said “She had no goodwill on Capitol Hill. She mismanaged FEMA. She didn’t show up to hearings. She was disrespectful. No one liked her.”
Noem had made two previous appearances in front of House and Senate committees in the weeks leading up to her firing.
Her conduct in both hearings showed the ice was already beginning to thin for the domestic security chief.
Noem was questioned by a bipartisan committee over her usage of taxpayer funds for self-promotion, her poor management of Homeland Security and her alleged extramarital affair with her chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski.
Under oath, Noem did not deny having an affair with Lewandowski.
In terms of her usage of taxpayer money, Noem used deportation funds to buy two luxury Gulfstream jets and lease a Boeing 737.
Noem said the 737 was to be used for “executive air travel and deportations.”
Noem and Lewandowski lent the plane to First Lady Melania Trump on several of her trips between Washington D.C. and New York City.
“They’re smart. Corey [Lewandowski] is very smart. I don’t take that away from them. Because they flew the first lady on it, they think they’re bulletproof,” one administration official said about the flights, calling them an “insurance policy” to justify the spending.
Overall, the planned cost for all three planes is $270 million.
This spending was combined with the $79 million spent on immigration ads featuring Noem – according to AdImpact.
Pres. Trump denied knowing anything about the ad campaign, which Sen. John Kennedy (R – La.) called “self-aggrandizing” considering how much they featured Noem.
Trump’s claim also contradicts two White House officials and Noem herself – who said she was told by Trump in Feb. 2025 “I want you in the ads, and I want your face in the ads.”
According to Noem, Trump also told her to “thank him for closing the border” in the ads.
Democrats have denied that firing Noem will change their votes when it comes to supporting increased DHS funding.
Homeland Security’s shutdown has nearly reached three weeks, with its Cyber-Security sub agency having a furloughed staff. Other workers have not received any pay.
Alongside his announcement for Mullin, Trump announced Noem will be moving to the new position of “Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.”
The president described the position as leading “our new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere.”
