Kristi Noem’s ouster follows tumultuous tenure as Homeland Security secretary
Kristi Noem's firing Thursday capped a rocky 13-month tenure at the Department of Homeland Security marked by constant controversy and questions about her management style that ultimately became a political liability in the eyes of President Donald Trump.
She drew especially heavy fire over how she carried out his immigration crackdown and mass deportation policy.
Critics call social media posts self-promotion
While the president praised her as a fighter, critics called out her self-promoting social media use, including videos showing her in tactical gear at raids with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents.
Critics also questioned her ride-alongs on those operations, especially since it was later revealed in some cases that the people arrested in the promotional videos were never charged with crimes.
She also drew criticism for appearing in TV, radio and online ads warning undocumented immigrants that the federal government was targeting them for deportation. Other ads offered money to undocumented immigrants to self-deport.
She repeatedly defended herself by contending she and ICE were simply carrying out Trump's agenda to make the country safer.
"These law enforcement officers are out there every day doing the work to protect the American people, and they will keep doing that because they believe in enforcing the law, which is exactly what President Trump has charged them with," Noem told CBS's "Face the Nation" in January.
As she launched Trump's deportation program, Noem was slammed for a March 26, 2025, visit to the Terrorist Confinement Center, aka CECOT, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, where she posed for a social media post in front of detainees crammed behind bars in a cell behind her.
"They shouldn't be coming here illegally," she told reporters during the visit when asked about the prison conditions.
Courts, Democrats, protesters push back
Federal judges have said Noem and the administration have defied court orders that prohibited the agency from sending undocumented migrants, some of whom DHS admitted did not have criminal records, to CECOT.
Calls for her resignation or removal grew after her agency surged resources into Minneapolis and the shooting deaths there in January of American citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal law enforcement and her characterizations of the incidents as "domestic terrorism."
Before now, the president had backed her as she defended ICE agents' and sending migrants to faraway third countries.
On Thursday, the president thanked her for her service at "Homeland" before sending her to a newly created position.
"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 said.
"Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas," Noem said in an X post shortly after his announcement.
Lightning rod
Trump picked the former South Dakota governor to lead DHS shortly after his election in November 2024.
She quickly became a lighting rod for criticism, continuing right until her fateful appearances this week on Capitol Hill.
In the two days leading up to her firing, Noem clashed with Democrats and some Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary committees over both her agency stewardship and a $220 million ad campaign her agency commissioned that featured her in prominent roles.
During a Tuesday hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy questioned Noem over the ad contract.
"It's just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, 'Mr. President, here's some ads I've cut, and I'm going to spend $220 million running them' that he would have agreed to that," he said.
Noem testified that the president approved.
"The president tasked me with getting the message out to the country," she said.
But Trump privately expressed deep frustration over her testimony, several sources within the administration told ABC News.
A senior administration official told ABC News that Trump did not sign off on the ad campaign.
"Absolutely not," the senior administration official said.
Noem also was asked several times during the hearings about whether she would apologize for her initial comments on the Pretti and Good shootings and she repeatedly declined to do so.
Hiring of Corey Lewandowski
She also has been criticized for her hiring of Corey Lewandowski, Trump's onetime 2016 campaign manager, as a special government employee. Sources have told ABC News that Lewandowski has operated as her de facto chief of staff at DHS despite his status limiting him to 130 days of service.
Democrats in Congress have demanded that Noem give a full accounting of Lewandowski's time at DHS after the Wall Street Journal reported on his conduct at the department and his relationship with the secretary.
"These reports indicate you control the Department with a level of conceit, capriciousness and cruelty rivaling the queen of hearts," Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee wrote to Noem on Feb. 18. "You are unfit to lead, and you should resign immediately."
Noem has not commented on her relationship with Lewandowski. Asked on Feb. 16 about the Wall Street Journal report, Trump said, "I don't know about that. I mean, I haven't heard that. I'll find out about it, but I have not heard that."
Their relationship came up in Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing when Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked Noem if she had "sexual relations" with Lewandowski.
Noem lambasted the congresswoman for "peddling tabloid garbage."
Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz also confronted Noem about her relationship with Lewandowski.
"I really think you need to say the word 'no' into the record so that you can clear that up," he said.
Noem did not answer directly.
"You say conservative women are stupid or sluts. I am neither," she snapped back.
Noem has also been criticized for not addressing the needs of other agencies under DHS purview, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
She said she wanted to "eliminate" the agency, which is crucial for disaster relief and assistance. While she fell short of that goal, she severally cut resources and personnel.
Noem backed Trump during his first term and made frequent appearances for his 2024 campaign and was seen as a strong contender for vice president before Trump picked JD Vance.
A spokesperson for Noem was forced to admit what she called "errors" in Noem's 2024 memoir "No Going Back," including a claim that she once met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
That description was removed from subsequent printings of the book, according to the publisher.
Noem also came under fire for revealing in the book that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog Cricket because she said it was untrainable and had killed a neighbor's chickens.
