Trump Fires Noem from DHS, Hires Midwest Senator
by John Gage
President Donald Trump announced Thursday he was replacing Kristi Noem as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security and appointing Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the new secretary.
“The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!),” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. “[Noem] will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’”
Noem’s firing came after contentious Capitol Hill hearings in which Republicans and Democrats both showed skepticism over the secretary’s leadership. During the hearing, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis described Noem’s tenure as being marked by “bad decisions made in the heat of the moment.” Noem got into a testy exchange with Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy as well as Democratic senators.
Advisers familiar with Trump’s thinking told the Wall Street Journal that the president saw the hearings as the final straw for her tenure as secretary.
Noem told the House Judiciary Committee this week that Trump approved of a $220 million ad campaign she ran as a secretary that featured her prominently and was criticized by members of both parties as being self-promoting. Trump told Reuters this week he was not aware of the commercials.
"I never knew anything about it," the president said. Mullins becomes the new secretary effective March 31, 2026.
Congressman Mike Flood congratulated the Oklahoma senator on becoming the new secretary in a tweet. Flood said Trump made an “outstanding selection” in picking the Oklahoma senator to lead the agency.
“He will deliver on the Trump administration’s commitment to keep America’s border secure while being a good steward of the agency’s resources,” the statement said.
This is a developing story — check back for updates.
John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.
