Kristi Noem was fired as Homeland Security Secretary due to leadership failures
She will be replaced by Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin
Her tenure was marked by multiple controversies including Minnesota incidents and a costly ad campaign
She is the first cabinet secretary to leave during Trump's second term
Democrats had called for her impeachment
📖 Full Retelling
President Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem as his Secretary of Homeland Security in Washington on March 6, 2026, citing what administration sources described as the culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures that distracted from the president's agenda. The controversial cabinet member, who had been a prominent face of Trump's immigration crackdown, will be replaced by Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin effective March 31, 2026, while she transitions to a new role as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Despite Trump's social media praise for her 'numerous and spectacular results,' a starkly different assessment emerged from a White House official who told NBC News her departure resulted from 'a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures including the fallout in Minnesota, the ad campaign, the allegations of infidelity, the mismanagement of her staff and her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies.' Noem's tenure was marked by multiple controversies that drew criticism from both parties, including her labeling of US citizens killed by ICE agents in Minnesota as 'domestic terrorists,' a $220m ad campaign promoting self-deportation that Trump claimed he never approved, and allegations of personal misconduct that surfaced during congressional hearings. Her dismissal makes her the first cabinet secretary to leave during Trump's second term, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling her a 'deeply unqualified, unhinged, out-of-control, pathological liar' who was a 'complete and total disaster,' though the administration insists the popular immigration agenda will continue without interruption.
🏷️ Themes
Leadership Failure, Immigration Policy, Political Controversy
Measures taken to regulate the movement of goods and people across borders
Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it also encompasses controls imposed on internal borders within a...
An American national security policy, homeland security is "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to the "national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within...
Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem ( NOHM; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician who is the 8th United States Secretary of Homeland Security. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the 33rd governor of South Dakota from 2019 to 2025 and represented South Dakota's at-large congr...
Trump sacks Kristi Noem A White House official said Ms Noem's "drama... sadly overshadowed and distracted" from the president's agenda. Friday 6 March 2026 02:55, UK 2:44 Share Why did Trump sack Kristi Noem? Why you can trust Sky News Kristi Noem has been sacked as Donald Trump's homeland security secretary after what a source in the administration described as the "culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures". Mr Trump put out a social media post announcing she was being replaced by a senator from Oklahoma. He said Ms Noem would be moving to a new job, special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, in about three weeks. Posting on Truth Social, the president praised her "numerous and spectacular results" in the role. But a White House official struck a very different tone when they spoke about her dismissal to NBC News, Sky's US partner network. They said her sacking was "a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures". Ms Noem becomes the first cabinet secretary to leave during the president's second term. She came under scrutiny after calling the actions of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota an "act of domestic terrorism" after she was shot dead by ICE agents. Alex Pretti , a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents two weeks later. At hearings in Congress this week, Ms Noem faced criticism from fellow Republicans - particularly over a £165m ($220m) ad campaign she appeared in that encouraged people in the US illegally to leave voluntarily. She insisted Mr Trump was aware of the campaign in advance, but he contradicted her in an interview. She faced further criticism over the pace of emergency funding approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as over the White House's response to disasters. The big mistake that got Kristi Noem sacked James Matthews US correspondent @jamesmatthewsky You know Kristi Noem - she’s the one who shot her puppy because it wasn’t responding to training. It was the controver...
