U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security” to testify, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2026.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Thursday said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was leaving her post, and that she would be replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican.
Noem’s departure from the Department of Homeland Security came after a wave of criticism of her management of the department and her handling of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., during a hearing Tuesday where Noem was testifying called her leadership a “disaster.”
“We’re an exceptional nation,” Tillis told her that day. “And one of the reasons we’re exceptional
is we expect exceptional leadership. And you have demonstrated anything but that.”
Trump, in a post Thursday on Truth Social, said “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 added.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) (L), accompanied by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) (R), speaks during a nomination hearing for Dr. Casey Means, for the medical director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service and U.S. surgeon general during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 25, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
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