Kristi Noem is out as Homeland Security Secretary after a brutal week of Congressional testimony where even Republicans tore into her leadership—and Donald Trump is replacing her with Markwayne Mullin, the Oklahoma senator best known for challenging a union boss to a fistfight during a Senate hearing.
Trump announced the firing on social media Thursday, praising Noem’s work at the border while simultaneously tossing her overboard. He gave her a consolation prize: “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a newly invented position focused on Western Hemisphere security that sounds important but almost certainly isn’t.
Noem’s downfall came fast. Just two days of Congressional testimony this week—where she faced blistering criticism from both parties—sealed her fate. Republicans hammered her over a $220 million ad campaign featuring herself that was supposed to encourage people to self-deport. Trump told Reuters he never signed off on those ads, directly contradicting what Noem had told lawmakers.
But the real damage came from Minneapolis. After ICE officers shot and killed two protesters—Renee Good and Alex Pretti—Noem called both of them aggressors. Widely circulated videos showed otherwise. She refused to apologize during her Congressional testimony, even as lawmakers from her own party looked on in disbelief.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded to the news with two words on social media: “good riddance.”
The department Noem leaves behind is a mess. DHS has been shut down for 20 days over a funding battle in Congress, with many employees working without pay. Billions of dollars allocated by Congress have faced questions about how they’ve been spent. And FEMA’s disaster response—including to deadly Texas floods—drew criticism from both sides.
Mullin, a former MMA fighter who once tried to negotiate directly with the Taliban, told reporters he would get DHS “focused on protecting the homeland.” He would need Senate confirmation but can serve as acting secretary while his nomination is pending.
Immigration advocates weren’t celebrating. “This is not accountability, just a reshuffling of the enablers of the agenda of President Trump,” said Vanessa Cárdenas of America’s Voice. She called Noem’s tenure “marked by cruelty.”
One person who did praise Noem: Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official she elevated to lead immigration crackdowns in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis. “She is the best Secretary I ever worked for, period,” he told the AP. “The others weren’t even close.”
Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. She later posted on social media thanking Trump for her new appointment and touting her accomplishments—which is one way to describe what happened.