Kristi Noem once led a dog into a gravel pit and ended its life with the cold precision of a mob hit. On Thursday, the Secretary of Homeland Security faced the sad truth that she, too, was expendable.
Noem became the first Cabinet member fired in Donald Trump’s second term, a striking contrast to the revolving-door chaos of the first. Like other members of Team Trump, she had assumed that ostentatious displays of loyalty to the president would isolate her.
As the face of immigration authorities, often placing himself at the center of the action, he managed to turn Trump’s emblematic issue into a political liability. Add to that a disastrous appearance before Congress this week, and it was enough for the president to finally resurrect his TV catchphrase: “You’re fired!”
Trump told a story Wednesday about another Cabinet member, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who recently gave a speech in which, instead of simply mentioning “coal,” he used the phrase “beautiful, clean coal” every time in an effort to impress the president. “I said, Chris, calm down!” Trump recalled to an amused audience.
Noem was to immigration authorities what Wright was to coal. She tried too hard. There was performative cosplay: The 54-year-old sometimes dressed in a bulletproof vest and accompanied agents on immigration raids while cameras rolled, although she has no law enforcement experience.
The former South Dakota governor also posed in front of a group of shirtless, tattooed men behind bars during a visit to an El Salvador prison where the Trump administration sent people it accused of being gang members. On social media, he referred to immigrants convicted of crimes as “bastards.”
Meanwhile, under his leadership, there was terror as masked immigration agents swept into Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, searching neighborhoods and Home Depot parking lots for potential immigration violators.
At first, Trump was undeterred and welcomed the hardline approach. But again, Noem went too far. The crackdown got out of control in Minneapolis with widespread raids and tear gas in the streets. Trump understood how badly that affected his key metric: television.
Noem was quick to say that two American citizens shot to death by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis had committed “domestic terrorism,” a claim disproved by video evidence. Trump fired Greg Bovino, the architect of the operation who reported directly to Noem, and replaced him with border czar Tom Homan, with whom Noem had a long power struggle.
Noem also faced growing criticism for the way the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spent billions of dollars appropriated by Congress – including two $172 million Gulfstream G700 luxury jets during a government shutdown – and for the pace of emergency funding approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster response.
Then there were her personal scandals, including long-running rumors of an extramarital affair with top adviser Corey Lewandowski, who was Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016. He, too, has now been fired. A US Coast Guard pilot was allegedly fired after one of Noem’s personal blankets was left on a plane, only to be reinstated because no one else was available to fly the return leg.
The issue came to a head this week when Noem faced a two-day grilling at the Capitol and received rare but harsh criticism from Republicans. A particular point of scrutiny was a $220 million advertising campaign that included a scene of Noem on horseback on Mount Rushmore in her home state of South Dakota.
Noem told members of Congress that Trump was aware of the campaign beforehand, but Trump disputed that in an interview with Reuters. “I never knew anything about it,” he said.
That was the last straw. Trump was said to be “especially upset” by Noem’s misleading response, Punchbowl News reported, and asked Republicans whether he should fire her. Shortly afterward, he announced on social media that Noem would become special envoy for Americas Shield, while Markwayne Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, would take over at DHS.
Firing Noem was the right decision for the wrong reason. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, responded Thursday: “Let me get this straight: Trump fired Noem after she lied about spending more than $200 million in taxpayer dollars on ads to promote herself. But he didn’t lift a finger after two Americans were murdered by his federal agents?”
In fact, many will consider Noem the worst homeland security secretary ever. He demonized immigrants and inflicted misery by targeting immigrant workers and non-criminal families. The number of deaths in immigration detention centers rose to a two-decade high during his tenure, while staff in DHS oversight offices were cut.
Miles Taylor, who was DHS chief of staff during Trump’s first term, posted on X: “Kristi Noem will be remembered for treating the American people like she treated her dogs.”
