After a tenure marked by controversy and a contentious week of Congressional hearings, secretary Kristi Noem is out as head of the Department of Homeland Security.
President Donald Trump introduced in a Reality Social post on Thursday that Noem would get replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a staunch Trump ally and immigration hard-liner. “The present Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us properly, and has had quite a few and spectacular outcomes (particularly on the Border!), might be shifting to be Particular Envoy for The Defend of the Americas, our new Safety Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are saying on Saturday in Doral, Florida,” Trump wrote. “I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’”
DHS did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
The companies beneath DHS embody Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, US Citizenship and Immigration Companies, the US Coast Guard, and others. It’s a sprawling community whose huge duties and quickly increasing funds have put it at the middle of the Trump administration’s radical overhaul of immigration and border coverage.
Speculation has swirled round Noem’s departure for months. Critics have assailed DHS’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, whereas Noem and figures like White Home border czar Tom Homan have reportedly been at odds over how to execute the administration’s mass deportation agenda, with Noem and senior adviser Corey Lewandowski stated to have emphasised sheer numbers of arrests and deportations above different issues.
The connection between Noem and Lewandowski has itself been a topic of controversy, with CNN reporting {that a} September assembly between the two and President Trump grew “contentious.” Final month, The Wall Road Journal reported that Lewandowski tried to fireplace a pilot throughout a flight for failing to carry Noem’s blanket from one aircraft to one other throughout a switch.
The ousted secretary confronted mounting scrutiny over the deaths of US residents throughout federal operations in Minneapolis, together with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal brokers beneath Noem’s make use of. In each circumstances, Noem publicly labeled the deceased “home terrorists,” framing echoed by Trump and different key administration officers. Video proof, witness testimony, and an unbiased post-mortem contradicted the company’s claims, together with early assertions that Pretti brandished a firearm.
Scrutiny of Noem’s tenure extends past the deadly shootings in Minneapolis to a broader sample of aggressive enforcement techniques, warrantless raids, and mass detention camps. A secretive coverage directive issued in Might 2025, first reported by the Associated Press, approved ICE brokers to forcibly enter non-public residences with no judicial warrant. The memo, signed by appearing ICE director Todd Lyons, instructed brokers to rely solely on an administrative removing doc to bypass Fourth Modification necessities. The coverage led to a number of documented cases of federal brokers coming into the flawed houses, together with a January raid in Minnesota the place brokers removed a US citizen at gunpoint with no respectable motive.
A document 53 folks died in ICE or CBP custody final yr, according to Home Democrats on the Committee on Homeland Safety. Concurrently, Noem has initiated a $38 billion procurement effort to purchase and refurbish up to 24 warehouses throughout the nation, aimed toward changing them into mass detention camps for folks awaiting deportation.
Noem’s tenure has led to controversy at different DHS companies as properly. Her insistence on approving any contracts or grants over $100,000 at the division have triggered explicit pressure at FEMA, which has skilled a large backlog of funding that has slowed regular processes at the company. A report issued from Senate Democrats on Wednesday discovered that Noem’s vetting course of at FEMA has triggered greater than 1,000 contracts, grants, and awards to be held up. A number of FEMA staff have advised WIRED that this course of has made the company much less prepared to reply to disasters and threats.
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