US President Donald Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday after months of controversy, including the fatal shootings of US citizens by federal officials in Minneapolis and questions from lawmakers over a $220 million advertising contract.
The Republican president will turn to Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her at the end of the month, he said Thursday on his Truth Social platform. The appointment “would require confirmation by the United States Senate.”
Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, became one of Trump’s most prominent Cabinet secretaries with social media posts that portrayed immigrants in harsh terms, highlighted alleged criminal offenses and used scathing language.
His departure, after emerging as the face of an aggressive immigration crackdown that had become unpopular according to recent polls, could allow Trump to realign his approach to immigration policy, a centerpiece of his agenda.
Shortly after Trump announced Noem’s replacement, she posted on X: “We have made historic achievements at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again.”
During congressional hearings this week, Democrats and some Republicans criticized Noem for her focus on immigration enforcement and the management of her department, including concerns about a $220 million ad campaign that heavily featured Noem and had been awarded to two longtime Republican operatives without a standard bidding process.
Noem’s personal life also came under scrutiny, with a Democratic lawmaker asking Wednesday whether she had a sexual relationship with her top adviser Corey Lewandowski. They are both married.
Noem called U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s question “tabloid garbage.” Lewandowski did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Trump said Reuters on Thursday that he did not approve of the ad campaign, which prominently featured Noem and included a scene of her on horseback at Mount Rushmore in her home state of South Dakota.
At a congressional hearing this week, Noem told Republican Sen. John Kennedy that Trump had approved the ad campaign.
First Senate-confirmed Cabinet member fired in Trump 2.0
Noem is the first Senate-confirmed member of Trump’s Cabinet to be removed this term. During Trump’s term from 2017 to 2021, 14 confirmed Cabinet members, who serve in the line of succession to the presidency, resigned or were fired.
Noem faced criticism in January when she quickly accused two U.S. citizens shot to death by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis of “domestic terrorism.” Videos that emerged after the deaths undermined the claim by Noem and other Trump officials that the two deceased, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were violent attackers.
Public backlash over the deaths led the Trump administration to take a more targeted approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota, after months of raids in American cities that sparked violent clashes between federal agents and residents opposed to the crackdown.
Two Trump administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, said the fallout from the fatal shootings, the $220 million contract, DHS mismanagement and allegations in the matter contributed to their firing.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives moved to impeach Noem, and at least two Republicans in Congress called for her to lose her job after the Minnesota shootings.
Trump said on Truth Social that Noem would be named envoy to a planned summit in Miami to bolster his policies in the Western Hemisphere.
Within minutes of Trump’s post about her replacement, Noem spoke at a police event in Tennessee for 40 minutes, but did not mention her departure.
Noem knew she would be removed before speaking at the event, said one of the officials and another person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They added that Lewandowski was also expected to leave the department. DHS and the White House had no immediate comment when asked about Lewandowski’s future.
Strong acceptance of Trump’s hardline immigration approach
Mullin, who spent a decade in the House of Representatives before becoming a senator in 2023, also supports Trump’s hardline immigration agenda.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Mullin said he did not expect Trump’s call. He described Noem as a friend and said he had not yet had a chance to call her.
“He was tasked with doing a very difficult job,” Mullin told reporters.
Democrats in Congress have blocked funding for DHS since mid-February, saying federal immigration enforcement must be reformed.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said firing Noem would not be enough to break the impasse.
“The problems at ICE transcend any one person,” he told reporters. “The president has to end the violence and rein in ICE.”
Trump’s immigration approach fell out of favor as agents detained American citizens and fired tear gas in the streets in an attempt to increase deportations, which last year fell short of the administration’s goal of 1 million per year.
While Noem, 54, was a prominent supporter of Trump’s agenda, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, a former Trump aide, controls Trump’s immigration policy.
Noem was quickly confirmed to lead the 260,000-employee department in January 2025, after Trump took office. On social media, he referred to immigrants convicted of crimes as “trash,” even as the number of non-criminals arrested by immigration authorities increased under Trump.
He joined immigration enforcement operations in New York City and visited a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration were being held without charge or access to lawyers.
