The Controversies Finally Caught Up to Kristi Noem
The Controversies Finally Caught Up to Kristi Noem
https://www.wired.com/story/the-controversies-finally-caught-up-to-kristi-noem/
Publish Date: 2026-03-05 14:43:00
Source Domain: www.wired.com
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 announced in a Truth Social post on Thursday that Noem would be replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a staunch Trump ally and immigration hard-liner. “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,” Trump wrote. “I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The agencies under DHS include Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the US Coast Guard, and others. It’s a sprawling network whose vast responsibilities and rapidly expanding budget have put it at the center of the Trump administration’s radical overhaul of immigration and border policy.
Speculation has swirled around Noem’s departure for months. Critics have assailed DHS’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, while Noem and figures like White House 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 said to have emphasized sheer numbers of arrests and deportations above other considerations.
The relationship between Noem and Lewandowski has itself been a subject of controversy, with CNN reporting that a September meeting between the two and President Trump grew “contentious.” Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski attempted to fire a pilot during a flight for failing to…
