US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem would be replaced. Her removal came two days after she faced intense questioning at a congressional hearing by both Republicans and Democrats.
DHS is the third-largest federal department and is responsible for implementing Trump’s hard-line immigration policies. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma is expected to become the new DHS secretary at the end of the month, pending Senate confirmation. Noem is the first Cabinet member dismissed since Trump began his second term.
Noem’s tenure, which focused on immigration enforcement, drew substantial criticism. In recent months she was accused of using DHS funds for self-promotional activities and was condemned by Democrats for defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid allegations of mistreatment of detained migrants and US citizens, including two people killed in confrontations with federal agents.
In his social media announcement, Trump thanked Noem for her service and said she would serve as a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative he described as concentrating on the Western Hemisphere. Noem expressed gratitude for the reassignment and said she looked forward to collaborating 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.” She also touted DHS achievements under her leadership, claiming the department had made “historic accomplishments to make America safe again” and delivered the “most secure border in American history.”
Noem, the former governor of South Dakota and an outspoken Trump ally who had previously called the US-Mexico border a “war zone,” had a prominent public role as DHS chief. Lacking a law enforcement background, she frequently accompanied agents on immigration operations while cameras recorded. During a visit to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, where DHS sent individuals it alleged were gang members, she posed with shirtless inmates as a warning to undocumented migrants in the US. Critics labeled such actions self-promotion and mocked her with nicknames like “ICE Barbie.”
The controversy over a multimillion-dollar DHS advertising campaign added to scrutiny. When a Republican senator suggested the ads were more about Noem’s image than effective enforcement, she said the campaign had Trump’s approval; Trump later publicly denied that.
Democrats had long urged Noem’s resignation, citing what they described as harsh and inhumane immigration enforcement. Under her oversight, DHS removed temporary protected status for citizens of Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and other countries, asserting conditions there were safe for return. Noem defended ICE in cases including the shooting deaths of two Minneapolis protesters, even characterizing the victims as “domestic terrorists.” Beyond immigration, she faced bipartisan criticism over the speed of emergency funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the department’s disaster response.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery