Washington — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is out, and will be replaced by GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, President Trump announced on Truth Social Thursday. The announcement comes amid criticism of DHS spending and as Congress has allowed the department’s funding to lapse.
“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,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The president said Noem “has served us well,” citing her “spectacular results” on the border. He said she will be moving to a role as special envoy for The Shield of the Americas, a new security initiative the administration will be unveiling.
But Noem has been under fire for months, especially as Congress refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti amid the Minneapolis immigration crackdown.
The final straw may come during her testimony before the Senate earlier this week, after she faced sharp criticism not only from Democrats, but also Republicans.
In particular, GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana questioned the secretary about her decision to spend $220 million on an ad campaign aimed at reducing illegal immigration. He wanted to know “how do you square that concern for waste — which I share — with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?”
And he pointed out that she had hired “people who had formerly done your political work back in South Dakota.” Noem told Kennedy, “That’s not correct,” and he shot back, “I think it is.”
He went on to say that “It puts the president in a terribly awkward spot: It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here are some ads I cut and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that.”
“The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million, running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?” Kennedy asked her.
Noem said, “Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes — did it correctly.”
Noem said she and the president had a conversation about running the advertisements before she was sworn in and have talked about it since then. But Kennedy told CBS News that the president called him after the hearing, and said of Mr. Trump and Noem that “his recollection and her recollection are different.”
On Thursday, Kennedy said that after the hearing, the president had called him that night.
“He was pissed,” Kennedy said, adding, “Well, he called me the night of hearing okay about 9:30 and he was not a happy cowboy.”
At the same hearing, GOP Sen. Thom Tillis told Noem, “What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem. A disaster.”
Tillis said that “what we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained” who turn out to be American citizens. He cited the “culture that’s been created here,” and he criticized Noem for the “domestic terrorist” label she used after the Good and Pretti shootings in Minneapolis.
He also cited a letter from the DHS Officer of Inspector General with 10 instances under her leadership where investigators said they’ve been misled and unable to pursue critically important matters.
Asked by reporters Thursday about the president’s selection of Mullin to replace Noem, Tillis said, “I can’t think of anybody I’d more proudly want to support to come in and clean up her mess.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
