President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is replacing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, a move that follows increasing bipartisan criticism of her management of the administration’s mass deportation agenda and efforts to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Trump stated that Noem would be succeeded by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), effective at the end of this month. Noem, he said, will assume the role of ‘Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,’ part of a new Western Hemisphere security initiative to be revealed at an event in Florida on Saturday.

Controversial Leadership and Policy Shifts

Noem has faced mounting pressure over her tenure, particularly as public sentiment turned against her agency’s aggressive immigration enforcement and as even some Republicans questioned her suitability for the role. Her removal adds further uncertainty to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which remains partially shut down due to a funding impasse on Capitol Hill. Democrats have demanded new accountability measures for federal immigration officers, and the agency has been operating under a partial shutdown since late last year.

Noem was attending a conference in Nashville when Trump made the announcement, delivering the keynote address at the Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference. She did not acknowledge her removal while answering unrelated questions from the audience, instead reciting what she viewed as the agency’s accomplishments under her leadership, including an alleged 750,000 deportations. She also mentioned that she would join Trump and two other Cabinet secretaries Saturday to announce an agreement to combat drug cartels.

Later, in a social media post, Noem acknowledged her removal from DHS, thanking the president and highlighting ‘historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security.’ She also reiterated the agency’s focus on immigration enforcement and border security.

Political Dynamics and Replacements

Mullin, 48, was elected to the Senate in 2022 after a decade in the House. He is considered one of the Republican senators closest to Trump. Mullin left a closed-door Senate Republican lunch at 1:26 p.m. and walked out of the Capitol. Trump announced his nomination 15 minutes later on social media, while the lunch was still ongoing.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said he believed Mullin would bring ‘a fresh set of eyes and a fresh approach’ to DHS. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), another Trump ally, praised the decision, stating, ‘It was time for a change.’

Democrats, however, were more cautious. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, described Mullin as ‘an upgrade, absolutely’ from Noem but noted, ‘pretty much anybody is.’ Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) called for Noem to be ‘held to account for the corruption that she has shown with the contracting’ and ‘for violating the constitutional rights of Americans.’

Over the first 13 months of his second term, Trump had not fired any of his Cabinet secretaries, a contrast to the rapid turnover in his first term, when he replaced several Cabinet members and his chief of staff. The decision to replace Noem appeared to come as a surprise to her, as she had told aides that Trump asked her to stay through the midterms in December, according to people familiar with the matter.

Internal Frustrations and Political Tensions

According to sources, Trump had grown increasingly dissatisfied with Noem after the surge of thousands of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota in December and January, which led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. The incident raised concerns about the agency’s handling of domestic security and law enforcement operations.

Noem’s testimony at a Senate committee oversight hearing this week also reportedly rankled Trump, who was displeased with her defense of a $200 million ad campaign featuring her and her assertion that Trump had signed off on the campaign. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Trump’s frustrations with Noem.

During the hearing, Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-Louisiana) pressed Noem about the ad campaign, which had been launched not long after she took over at DHS in February 2025. When Kennedy asked if Trump had approved the multimillion-dollar campaign, Noem replied, ‘Yes, sir, we went through the legal processes,’ and said Trump had known about it ahead of time.

‘It puts the president in a terribly awkward spot,’ Kennedy told Noem, expressing skepticism about her account. Kennedy said Thursday that he had spoken with the president Tuesday night and described Trump’s recollection about the ads as ‘distinctly different’ than what Noem had recounted.

‘The president was not happy, and I remember thinking that the secretary is pretty much dead as fried chicken,’ Kennedy told reporters after Trump’s announcement.

Lawmakers also repeatedly pressed Noem about her swift statements following the fatal shootings in Minneapolis in January of Renée Good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who were shot by immigration officers. Noem suggested the victims had been threatening officers in acts that amounted to ‘domestic terrorism.’ Democrats and a handful of Republicans criticized her for making such claims before an investigation had concluded.

Noem also claimed Pretti had brandished a gun, though she provided no evidence, and video footage of the shooting contradicted her account. During back-to-back congressional hearings, Noem repeatedly refused to apologize for her statements.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said Thursday that he was pleased Trump had removed Noem but vowed that Democrats would continue to seek changes to DHS and the administration’s immigration enforcement operations. Democrats have demanded that the White House and Republicans agree to a long list of new restrictions on federal immigration officers. The two sides have been negotiating for weeks on a DHS funding deal but were unable to forge an agreement before the agency closed some operations last month.

‘It goes beyond any one person,’ Schumer said Thursday. ‘We need to straighten out the whole agency. The rot there is deep.’

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold the hearing on Mullin’s nomination. A married father of six, Mullin describes himself as a ‘working cow-calf rancher’ and businessman. A former mixed martial arts fighter, he is known by colleagues to be pugilistic, and he recently described committee chair Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) as a ‘freaking snake.’

Noem, a former South Dakota governor, became a symbol of the administration’s brash and bombastic style on immigration soon after she was appointed last January. She frequently gloated about DHS’s arrests of undocumented immigrants in highly produced videos the agency posted on social media.

Border crossings dropped to the lowest level in decades, and arrests of undocumented immigrants already in the country rose significantly but fell short of meeting White House goals. Her department’s spending and her own use of government resources have also drawn scrutiny from lawmakers. The Washington Post reported last year that she was living rent-free in the Coast Guard commandant’s home.

Noem has been dogged by questions about the role of her top adviser Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager who was listed as a ‘special government employee’ and was frequently seen with Noem at official events. Lewandowski played an influential role in key decisions at DHS, including reviewing contracts that exceeded $100,000.

Trump’s top advisers in the White House have feuded with Lewandowski dating back to the campaign.