Photo: WBZ NewsRadio Archive
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — President Donald Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Thursday.
President Trump made the announcement on Truth Social and said he would nominate Oklahoma Republic Sen. Markwayne Mullin as her replacement.
"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," Trump wrote. "I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland.'"
Noem's firing came after she faced intense scrutiny during a pair of hearings on Capitol Hill earlier in the week. Republican and Democratic lawmakers grilled Noem over her handling of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda, the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota at the hands of federal agents, and her decision to spend $200 million on an ad campaign that featured Noem urging people in the United States illegally to self-deport.
Noem told lawmakers that President Trump had signed off on the ad campaign, a claim that the White House denied.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren reacted to the firing, writing on X, "So let me get this straight: Trump fired Noem after she lied about spending over $200 million of taxpayer dollars on ads promoting herself. But he wouldn't lift a finger after two Americans were killed by her federal agents?"
"Let me be clear: I’m glad Kristi Noem was fired. But we still have to abolish ICE," wrote Sen. Ed Markey on X.
The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Feb. 14 as Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over funding. Democrats are demanding changes to Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection, in the wake of the Minnesota killings.
Many DHS employees are still working through the shutdown, although without pay.