President Donald Trump on Thursday fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, making her the first Cabinet secretary to depart her post and capping off a tumultuous year in which she oversaw the president’s increasingly unpopular mass deportation agenda.
Alongside the announcement of Noem’s ouster, the president said he would tap Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to be her replacement, elevating a fiercely loyal first-term senator.
“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
He added that Noem, who he said “has served us well,” will take over a new role called “Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.” The president described that position as one that will lead “our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere.”
Trump spoke to Noem this afternoon about the job switch, according to two people familiar with the conversation. The secretary is traveling outside of Washington, D.C.
An administration official told NBC News that the president decided to fire Noem due to “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, including CBP and ICE.”
The official added: “Kristi’s drama sadly overshadowed and distracted from the Administration’s extremely popular immigration agenda, which will continue full force.”
Noem, in a post on X, thanked the president for her new position and touted her tenure as DHS secretary.
"In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security," she added before including a list of "historic accomplishments," at the department.
Corey Lewandowski, a close aide and advisor to Noem, is also expected to depart the Department of Homeland Security, according to an administration official.
Lewandowski, who was one of the first staff members on Trump’s 2016 campaign for president, faced scrutiny from lawmakers over his role at the department, including over whether he had the power to approve grants and contracts. In congressional hearings this week, Noem, who is married, faced questions about their personal relationship.
Mullin told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday that he was “super excited about this opportunity” and that it was “not a complete surprise.”
He added, “the president and I, as you guys know, we’re great friends and we get along great. I look forward to working with him in his cabinet. Of course, we’ve still got to go through this little thing called confirmation, and we’re going to get started on it right away.”
Mullin was attending a Senate Republican lunch Thursday when he appeared to get a phone call, then “abruptly” got up and rushed out of the room — leaving a “full plate of food behind,” according to Sen. Roger Wicker, who said it raised suspicion among Republicans that something was afoot.
Mullin was spotted leaving the lunch using one hand to press the cell phone to his ear and the other hand to cover his mouth, as if he was trying to shield the conversation from reporters, and then ducked into Sen. John Barrasso’s leadership office just around the corner from the room where the GOP lunch was being held.
The Oklahoma senator later said that the phone call came from the White House switchboard, so he didn't see Trump's name pop up on the caller ID.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting the call today,” he said.
In a post on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Mullin "extraordinarily qualified" and said that the White House will work with the Senate to confirm him to the post "as quickly as possible."
