President Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and said Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma would replace her.
Noem “will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida,” Trump posted on social media. “I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.'”
Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave the Trump administration in Trump’s second term. The announcement comes after Noem spent two days being grilled by lawmakers in Congress over her leadership.
Mullin has been a defender of the president and his immigration agenda.
“A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter, Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda,” Trump said in his post, highlighting Mullin’s position as the only Native American in the Senate. “Markwayne will make a spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Mullin will need to be confirmed by the Senate to take on the role permanently.
Noem, who was formerly South Dakota’s governor, had been at the forefront of Trump’s efforts to carry out mass deportations. Following her confirmation, she quickly became the face of the administration’s immigration agenda — making multimillion-dollar ads urging people to self-deport, conducting press conferences around the U.S. touting deportation numbers, and conducting international visits geared at promoting Trump’s vision.
She is the highest-profile departure from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in recent weeks. Madison Sheahan, former deputy director at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, left her post at the start of the year to run for Congress. Top department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin left her role last month.
At the start of her second year on the job, Noem faced bipartisan criticism over her leadership of an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, where she deployed 3,000 officers and where two U.S. citizens were killed. Some of the loudest voices on the right for her resignation came from Sens. Thom Tillis, N.C., who is not running for reelection, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Noem’s stint as head of DHS truly fell apart this week after she crumbled during back-to-back hearings before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. In addition to repeatedly lying under oath, Noem couldn’t explain away a $220 million border security ad campaign starring herself that Trump now claims he did not approve.
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