Inside the decision to remove Kristi Noem as DHS secretary

Politics Inside the decision to remove Kristi Noem as DHS secretary By Nicole Sganga Nicole Sganga Homeland Security and Justice Correspondent Nicole Sganga is CBS News' homeland security and justice correspondent. She is based in Washington, D.C., and reports for all shows and platforms. Read Full Bio Nicole Sganga March 5, 2026 / 6:08 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The decision to replace Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security secretary came together quickly, and the timing of President Trump's announcement caught many across DHS off guard, even as tensions had been building for weeks between Noem and the White House, according to senior White House and DHS officials. Though many officials within DHS conceded that the writing was on the wall, the exact timing of the president's Truth Social post announcing that he intended to replace her with Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma took DHS officials and the secretary herself by surprise. The post went up during her live remarks as the keynote speaker at Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference in Nashville, although just before she took the stage, the president briefly spoke with her by phone to inform her of his decision. Following the controversial immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and fatal shootings of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, administration officials tell CBS News the aggressive tactics used by ICE and CBP had become politically problematic nationwide, drawing criticism not only from Democrats but also from some supporters of the president's immigration agenda who viewed the operations as overly broad and poorly executed. Inside DHS, the president's earlier decision to put border czar Tom Homan in charge of winding down the Minneapolis operation — effectively sidelining Noem — was widely viewed as an early sign of Trump's dissatisfaction with her performance. The backlash against Noem's statements regarding Pretti and Good corresponded with a...