President Donald Trump has fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and says he’ll nominate in her place Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
Trump made the announcement on social media on Thursday, two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from GOP members as well as Democrats.
Trump says he’ll make Noem a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. Noem’s departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing immigration enforcement tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits.
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Immigrant, refugee organizations reacts to Noem’s departure
Some of the most important immigrant organizations in the U.S. quickly welcomed Noem’s departure as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security but said they did not see her replacement by Sen. Markwayne Mullin as a radical change.
“Keeping communities safe — including those of our immigrant and refugee neighbors — are what should be most important to any government official,” said Beth Oppenheim, CEO of HIAS, one of the oldest refugee organizations in the U.S.
“We call on all leaders in this administration — including the incoming Secretary — to lead with the utmost respect and dignity for the most vulnerable across our country.”
Separately, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of the refugee resettlement organization Global Refuge, said in a statement that her departure is an “opportunity to course-correct.”
“The past year has been marked by policy whiplash, the erosion of long-standing humanitarian protections, and mounting instability for immigrants, employers, and the communities that depend on them,” said Vignarajah.
Bipartisan government watchdog warns Noem’s removal is just a first step
Common Cause, a bipartisan government watchdog with active members in every U.S. Congressional district fighting for government accountability, said Noem’s removal from DHS “is an important step toward restoring democratic governance” but warns that “the fight is long from over.”
“Kristi Noem’s removal is a hard-won victory for Americans who refused to stay silent,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, president and CEO of Common Cause. “This is a powerful reminder that in a true democracy, no official is above the law.”
‘Long overdue:’ Immigration advocacy groups react to Noem firing
Some immigration advocacy groups are welcoming Noem’s firing but also cautioning that more changes are needed to bring about what they say is needed accountability.
In a statement the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights said her departure is “long overdue.”
“For immigrant communities across the country, her leadership represented a dangerous escalation of policies that treated families and workers as targets rather than as human beings,” the group said.
But they cautioned that removing her was only the first step and said the next secretary must ensure transparency and that agencies within DHS treat immigrants with “basic human respect.”
America’s Voice’s executive director Vanessa Cárdenas said in a statement that Noem’s tenure was “marked by cruelty” but also said that the problem wasn’t just with Noem. They said there needs to be real accountability for organizations like ICE and Border Patrol.
Federal judge this week said Noem could be deposed in FEMA lawsuit
Two days before Noem’s ouster, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered that the secretary could be questioned under oath in a lawsuit opposing staff cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
District Judge Susan Illston’s decision was “very unusual” said Laurie L. Levenson, law professor at Loyola Marymount University’s Loyola Law School.
“It’s an indication that the court was really frustrated because they’re not getting a straight story from the government,” Levenson said.
A coalition led by labor unions sued the Trump administration in January after it didn’t renew expiring contracts for hundreds of term-limited disaster employees.
Illston issued the order after a government attorney Tuesday made statements contradicting a sworn declaration by FEMA’s acting leader, Karen S. Evans.
Noem’s dismissal didn’t necessarily mean she couldn’t still be deposed, said Levenson, though the defendants might argue she no longer represents the government in this case.
Mullin called GOP senator who’ll oversee his nomination a ‘freaking snake’
Mullin’s nomination will go through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. That panel is chaired by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican whom Mullin recently criticized as a “freaking snake” to a group of voters in Tulsa.
The comment came as Mullin described how Paul - who frequently defects from his own party in foreign policy, federal spending and other matters - proposes legislative measures that could tank a bigger package, such as appropriations bills and a farm bill.
“Rand Paul’s a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did. And I told him that to his face,” Mullin said, according to Oklahoma conservative talk show host David Arnett, who wrote about the remarks on his Substack.
Mullin was referring to a 2017 attack in which Paul was assaulted by a neighbor who tackled him and broke several of his ribs in a dispute over lawn maintenance.
White House: Trump thankful to Noem, Mullin is ‘extraordinarily qualified’
The White House press secretary says the administration will work with the Senate to confirm Mullin to replace Noem “as quickly as possible.”
Karoline Leavitt said Mullin was “extraordinarily qualified” for the post. She added that Trump was “grateful” to Noem for “helping usher in the most secure border in American history.”
“President Trump’s immigration agenda is keeping our borders secure and deporting illegal alien criminals from our country, and it will continue without interruption,” Leavitt said in a post on X.
Noem sharply criticized for her handling of FEMA
Noem has faced blistering criticism from lawmakers of both parties recently about her handling of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of DHS, including a policy that she personally approve agency expenditures of $100,000 or more, which critics say has slowed billions of dollars in disaster reimbursements to states and even delayed emergency response.
“You’ve failed at FEMA,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Noem during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week in which he lambasted her for delayed funds for Hurricane Helene recovery.
Noem has said FEMA should “ no longer exist as it is ” and has been accused of trying to weaken the agency by slowing reimbursements to states, withholding grant money and cutting staff.
The disaster agency is on its third temporary leader since last January and lost at least 2,445 employees in the period between January and June 2025, nearly 10 percent of its workforce.
What is the 'Shield of the Americas?'
Trump said he is appointing Noem to serve as his “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas” as he announced her ouster from DHS.
Trump is gathering with the leaders of 11 Latin American countries for a “Shield” summit on Saturday at his golf club in Doral, Florida.
The name of the gathering is supposed to reflect Trump’s vision for U.S. national security strategy to put a greater emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, as he looks to leverage U.S. military and intelligence assets unseen in the region since the end of the Cold War. The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago have confirmed they’ll attend, according to the White House.
Noem, speaking in Nashville, confirmed she will be at the summit and that Trump will announce “a big agreement” that will detail “how we’re going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.”
Noem reacts to her ouster
“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” Noem wrote on X. She added that she looked forward to working with top administration officials “to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”
“In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security,” Noem wrote. She also said that, during her tenure, the department “delivered the MOST secure border in American history” and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had “delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate.”
The post followed Noem making no mention of being ousted during a more than 30-minute address and question-and-answer session at a law enforcement event in Nashville.
Noem was the face of immigration enforcement
Noem made hers the face of immigration enforcement, often putting herself in the center of the action.
She sometimes dressed in a flack jacket and accompanied agents on immigration raids as cameras recorded, though she does not have a law enforcement background.
She also posed in front of a group of shirtless, tattooed men behind bars during a March visit to an El Salvador prison where the Trump administration sent people it accused of being gang members.
Noem doesn't mention her firing during speech
Noem spoke for more than 20 minutes, but didn’t mention her firing as she spoke to the Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference in Nashville on Thursday.
Even when she began answering audience questions, no one mentioned it. Asked about future law enforcement grants, Noem seemed to suggest that she would continue to be on the job.
“I think your best options for funding alternatives would be through some grants that with the department, we have specific grants towards, terrorism grants,” she said at one point. “So maybe what I’ll do is I will forward those grant opportunities to all of you so that you can share them with your departments and have that opportunity.”
Mullin would take office at a pivotal time
Mullin would take over the third largest department in government that has responsibility for carrying out Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda. And he takes the office at a pivotal time for that agenda.
Immigration enforcement during the first year of Trump’s administration was largely defined by high-profile, made-for-social-media operations with flashy names that were often led by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who reported directly to Noem.
Noem herself often went out on those operations, riding along with officers when they went out to make arrests.
But those high-profile operations in places like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, often led to clashes with activists and protesters that were captured on video and drove opposition to the president’s immigration agenda.
That culminated with the shooting deaths in Minneapolis after which Trump sent in his border czar Tom Homan to take direct control of the operation in Minneapolis. Bovino was also reassigned.
Noem becomes another Trump official to be offered a soft landing
Noem is the first Trump Cabinet member to be ousted from her post, but the president lining up a new job for her is actually part of a trend.
Trump announced that Noem will become a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.” That’s a new security initiative that the president said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Former national security adviser Mike Waltz was nominated as United Nations ambassador after he mistakenly added a journalist to a Signal chat discussing military plans last year.
Trump also tapped IRS Commissioner Billy Long to be his ambassador to Iceland after Long contradicted the administration’s messaging in his less than two months in the job.
And Trump said in August that State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce would be deputy representative to the U.N. after leaving the State Department.
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