Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s clash with GOP senators this week was the final straw for President Donald Trump, though insiders say her fate had been sealed long before Tuesday’s hearing.
Two days after that hearing, Trump announced via social media that Noem would be replaced at DHS by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), effective March 31. In the same statement, Trump announced that Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, would become the new special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere that’s expected to be formally announced on Saturday in Doral, Florida.
Noem “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!),” Trump wrote.
People close to the president and current and former Trump administration officials say that, despite the White House’s public support prior to this week, Noem’s job had been dangling by a thread for months.
A longtime adviser to the president told the Washington Examiner that Trump had considered replacing Noem during government shutdown negotiations in late January, but the removal would not have benefited the administration’s position and could have even weakened it.
“It was always when, not if,” that person reiterated Thursday.
One former Trump administration official said that Noem sealed her fate by appearing to throw the president under the bus during her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week amid a brewing scandal at DHS. During the hearing, Noem was pressed by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) about a $220 million ad campaign DHS had undertaken with a firm with ties to Noem and her former spokeswoman.
“How do you square [cuts to DHS contracts] with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?” Kennedy asked Noem.
“Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries with putting commercials out that if they were in the country illegally, that they needed to leave,” Noem replied.
Trump was reportedly rankled by Noem’s comments. Publicly, the president disputed the secretary’s claim in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
“I never knew anything about it,” he told the news wire service.
Privately, Trump called Kennedy “as mad as a murder hornet” to discuss the situation. They also discussed the prospect of Mullin replacing Noem.
“Her version of the truth and the President’s version of the truth are decidedly different,” said Kennedy.
A former Trump White House official told the Washington Examiner that Noem’s new posting, rather than an outright firing, wasn’t particularly surprising either.
“Look, firing someone solidifies the fact that mistakes were made. But [Noem] really kind of tied his hands here,” that person said.
Noem’s time atop DHS has been riddled with controversy. There were the two fatal shootings of anti-ICE protesters in January in Minneapolis, after which Border Patrol commander in chief Greg Bovino was replaced by Border Czar Tom Homan.
Noem and Homan have been at odds over their different approach to Trump’s desired crackdown on illegal immigration. Noem preferred widely publicized community raids over Homan’s targeted operations and cooperation with local law enforcement officials.
Corey Lewandowski, a special government employee with whom Noem has a close personal and professional relationship and was Trump’s campaign manager during the 2016 election cycle, has only caused additional heartburn among Republicans.
During Tuesday’s hearing, lawmakers pressed Noem about reports of a romantic relationship with Lewandowski — an allegation she has previously denied. Two sources close to the president said the exchange only accelerated her departure.
“It was one of those things that everyone kind of knew about, but when you’re already in the dog house, and it comes up in a very public setting like that, that’s curtains,” a veteran of the first Trump administration told the Washington Examiner.
Noem also often drew negative headlines for reasons unrelated to Trump administration policy. Last year, her purse — along with her government access badge, apartment keys, $2,000-3,000 in cash, her passport, and blank checks — was stolen while she dined at a Washington, D.C. restaurant.
In recent months, media outlets have covered her literal high-flying exploits, including plans to shell out more than $300 million for a fleet of private luxury planes for DHS brass and mistreatment of Coast Guard aviators charged with shuttling her across the country.
From a policy standpoint, Noem has taken fire for her decision to personally approve any DHS expenditure of more than $100,000. Critics say the micro-management has delayed the department’s grant application process.
Noem’s reassignment marks the first time in Trump’s second term that he has fired a Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretary, a significant departure from the heavy turnover that characterized his first term.
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Trump did nominate former national security adviser Mike Waltz last May as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after the former congressman and Army Special Forces officer mistakenly added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal messaging app group chat discussing U.S. strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In both cases, Trump and the White House repeatedly downplayed the idea that it was a demotion, concerned about the criticism the president received during his first term for presiding over a revolving door administration.
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