On Thursday, March 5, 2026, President Trump announced that the current United States Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, was fired. In a Truth Social post, Trump announced that Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin will be taking the position later this month and Noem will be moved to a new position.
“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. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland,’” Trump said on Truth Social.
Noem will be the first cabinet Secretary to leave the cabinet during Trump’s second term, with the announcement taking place only two days after a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democratic and Republican lawmakers asked Noem about her initial descriptions of the killings of two US citizens in Minnesota, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In the hearing, Noem stood by her comments and would not apologize for calling Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” despite him only holding his phone when he was killed, with his weapon completely concealed.
In January in New York City, Noem also argued that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who killed Good was acting in self-defense, accusing Good of trying to use her car as a weapon to run over officers, also describing her actions as domestic terrorism. Both these comments by Noem have been met with much controversy, especially from Minnesota state officials and citizens. Minnesota officials described Noem’s version of events as false, calling it “propaganda,” as video analysis has shown that Good appeared to be turning the car away from the officer as he opened fire, according to the New York Times.
During Noem’s time in New York City in January 2026, she also criticized Mayor Mamdani, who is now building an allyship with the president, saying that he “chose to stand with illegals instead of those individuals who just want the chance to raise their families in New York City.” Her speech in New York City was met with many protests from citizens, requesting that ICE be removed from the city. While Mamdani has not commented on Noem’s firing thus far, his stances on ICE and Noem’s leadership of DHS have been made clear.
“This is something that was entirely preventable. It is yet, however, entirely unsurprising from an agency that is both reckless and also operates with a real sense of impunity across the country,” Mamdani said in a CNN interview following Good’s killing.
While no specific reason has been released to explain Noem’s ousting, there is speculation that it is due to the growing controversies surrounding her leadership of ICE, comments on Good and Pretti, and her $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign that featured Noem on horseback saying the department’s message: “You cross the border illegally, we’ll find you.”
Markwayne Mullin, Trump’s replacement for Secretary of DHS, will take the position starting on March 31, 2026. Trump is in great support of the Oklahoma Senator for this position, saying that “Markwayne will make a spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security.”
