U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he was firing U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace her.
The move comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security remains in a partial government shutdown after Senate Democrats blocked a DHS funding bill in February, and follows bipartisan grilling of Noem during congressional hearings this week.
“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,” Trump wrote.
“Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the wisdom and courage required to advance our America First agenda,” the president added.
Noem, who previously served as governor of South Dakota, has faced intense criticism from Democrats over the department’s deportation operations, particularly in Minnesota, where DHS agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens.
Noem claimed both deaths appeared to involve “domestic terrorism,” a characterization she refused to apologize for during this week’s House and Senate hearings.
“I did not call him a domestic terrorist,” Noem said, referring to Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in January. “I said it appeared to be an incident of domestic terrorism.”
Noem also faced tough questions about a $220 million DHS ad campaign starring the secretary, urging illegal immigrants to self-deport, the spending for which appeared to benefit Noem’s associates.
The secretary told Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) Trump approved the ads.
“It puts the president in a terribly awkward spot,” Kennedy responded. “The strategy group got most of the money, and the head of that is married to your former spokesperson.”
“It troubles me,” he added. “A quarter-of-a-billion dollars in taxpayer money, when we’re scratching for every penny, and we’re fighting over rescission packages—I just can’t agree with Madam Secretary.”
National Review reported on Thursday that Trump was “privately furious” about the testimony ahead of Noem’s firing.
It is unclear what Noem’s new “Shield of the Americas” envoy role will entail, as Trump said that the position would be announced on March 7.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) welcomed Noem’s ouster on Thursday.
“Kristi Noem has proven to be a deeply unqualified, unhinged, out-of-control, pathological liar who repeatedly abused her power,” Jeffries stated. “Her well-deserved termination is long overdue.”
Democrats blocked a DHS funding bill in the Senate on Thursday, and the House is expected to vote on the measure later the same day.
Mullin, a first-term senator, previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives after a career in the private sector running a plumbing business.
A staunch conservative, Mullin has advocated a strong relationship with Israel and has supported U.S. military action against Iran.
“Thank God we had a president with a backbone to finally get rid of this murderous regime,” Mullin said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday.
