Trump fires DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, picks GOP senator to replace her

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the removal of Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), picking a Republican senator to replace her.

Noem’s firing comes weeks after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens protesting immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis and over a year into her spearheading an unprecedented mass deportation and border security strategy promised by the president during his re-election campaign.

Trump announced the personnel shakeup on Truth Social, a far-right social media platform, saying that Noem “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!).” 

Her replacement will come via U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), a “MAGA warrior” with “the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda,” the president wrote. He will start his new role on March 31.

Mullin, a former MMA fighter, has been a legislator for over a decade, having served in the Senate since 2023 and previously in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Throughout his legislative tenure, Mullin has supported Trump’s false claims of a “stolen” 2020 election and has supported legislation to prohibit trans athletes from participating in sports based on their gender identity.

As head of the DHS, Noem led the nation’s top law enforcement agencies, like the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), the U.S. Coast Guard and, more notably, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Calls for her resignation ignited after the killing of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis, with most Democrats and a few Republicans demanding she step down, especially after she accused the victims of “domestic terrorism.”

Just before the announcement, Noem had been testifying on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she was answering to concerns regarding her top aide Corey Lewandowski, a relationship that has been under increased scrutiny from Congress.

According to internal records reviewed by ProPublica, Lewandowski personally approved a multimillion-dollar equipment contract at the agency last summer, even when Noem testified that he did not have a role in approving DHS contracts.

National civl rights organizations celebrated the announcement, saying the move was long overdue following a "pattern of unconstitutional overreach and civil rights violations."

"The firing of Secretary Noem proves that our voices matter and that collective action is the ultimate check on power," Voto Latino, a nationwide civic engagement organization, said in a statement issued Thursday. The organization led a coalition of 125 organizations in calling for Noem's departure.

"After months of sustained pressure, this week’s congressional hearings with Secretary Noem made clear what we had been warning about: she was unfit for the position and unwilling to provide the accountability Americans deserve," the organization said.

Noem’s ties with the federal government, however, are far from over. She would become special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative the president recently announced, Trump shared on Truth Social.

It was not immediately clear what this initiative entailed or what her upcoming role would look like.