Trump Fires Scandal-Plagued Kristi Noem As Homeland Security Secretary | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON ― In a shocking transfer, President Donald Trump introduced Thursday he fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and is tapping Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to switch her on the finish of the month.

“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Trump posted on social media.

“The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), 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,” he mentioned.

“I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland,’” the president added.

The White House hasn’t formally nominated Mullin to the publish but, and he nonetheless must be confirmed by the Senate to get the job.

Noem later thanked Trump for her new appointment and boasted of her “historic accomplishments” at DHS.

“We delivered the MOST secure border in American history, 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S., we have located 145,000 children,” she wrote on social media later that afternoon. “FEMA delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate, we ushered in the golden age of travel, saved the American taxpayer $13 billion and revitalized the U.S. Coast Guard.”

But Noem’s legacy at DHS, which she’s led since January 2025, shall be largely outlined by her sloppiness, scandals and potential law-breaking.

On her watch, 1000’s of federal immigration enforcement brokers descended on Minnesota and spent months brutalizing immigrants, terrorizing communities, and fatally capturing two Minneapolis residents: U.S. residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Noem, with none proof, characterised each Good and Pretti as home terrorists — an allegation which different officers mentioned was not true — to justify the brokers’ actions.

Noem has additionally come below fireplace for spending $220 million in taxpayer cash on a flashy DHS advert marketing campaign that prominently options her driving round on a horse in a cowboy hat at Mount Rushmore. An enormous chunk of these federal {dollars} was secretly awarded to a agency with ties to Noem, a agency that was stood up simply eight days earlier than the contract went out.

She’s additionally confronted allegations of deceptive or straight-up mendacity to Congress below oath about numerous actions she’s taken, starting from the function of her prime aide, Corey Lewandowski, in approving contractsto the fact that her division has been detaining American residents in its sweep of supposed criminals within the nation illegally.

In nonetheless one other scandal, Noem has confronted allegations of getting an inappropriate private relationship with Lewandowski, who made headlines final month for getting into the cockpit of a authorities jet mid-flight and firing the pilot over a misplaced blanket. The pilot needed to be instantly reinstated as there was nobody else to fly Noem and Lewandowski again residence.

Trump’s resolution to fireplace Noem appears instantly tied to the bipartisan condemnation she confronted this week earlier than Congress, as she testified to House and Senate committees throughout oversight hearings.

Democrats have been demanding her resignation for months over her reckless dealing with of Trump’s immigration crackdown, however in her televised hearings, she confronted scorching disapproval from Republicans as effectively.

In a minutes-long tirade, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) excoriated her for her “failure of leadership,” citing the deaths of Good and Pretti, for not reimbursing his state billions of {dollars} in badly wanted catastrophe aid funds, and customarily, for focusing DHS’ immigration enforcement efforts on sheer numbers of detentions versus listening to who is definitely being detained.

“Quality matters, not quantity!” Tillis shouted at her throughout a Wednesday listening to. “What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem! A disaster! What we’ve seen is innocent people being detained that turn out are American citizens!”

Still, it was one other Republican senator in that listening to, John Kennedy, who might have been the actual trigger for Noem’s firing.

The Louisiana senator pressed Noem on whether or not Trump signed off on her $220 million DHS advert marketing campaign that was “effective in your name recognition,” however that “puts the president in a terribly awkward spot” given its price ticket. She mentioned the president did give the OK, which ended up infuriating Trump to the purpose that he referred to as Kennedy instantly to gripe in regards to the senator’s questioning of Noem.

By Thursday morning, the president was reportedly calling Republicans on the Hill to see in the event that they thought he ought to fireplace Noem.

Noem’s expulsion comes as Congress fights over tying any new funding for DHS to main reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats have refused to budge on this demand, as Republicans insist the company be funded whereas they debate ICE reforms individually.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) mentioned Thursday it’s nice information that Noem is out, however it modifications nothing about Democrats’ insistence on actual modifications at ICE.

“Good riddance,” he instructed reporters of Noem’s ouster. “But the problems with this agency transcend one person. The rot is deep.”

Noem shall be a major goal of Democratic investigations after November in the event that they win again the House, which they’re well-positioned to do.

During Tuesday’s House oversight committee, Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) lashed on the DHS secretary for having “regularly ignored court orders and lied to judges,” citing 210 circumstances of her employees ignoring federal court docket orders in 2026 alone.

“You are the secretary of DHS ― for now,” Balint instructed Noem. “You think you’re immune from accountability. But I promise you this: One day, he is not going to be president anymore.”

Noem mentioned nothing because the Vermont Democrat continued: “When that day comes, we will still be here … and in hearings like this,” she mentioned. “We are going to continue to prove your guilt.”