President Donald Trump (R) has fired Secretary of The Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, after the former head of DHS came under increasing scrutiny from lawmakers across the aisle.
The South Dakota Republican once considered to be a potential vice president to Trump previously served two terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives. She served four terms as a United States congresswoman representing South Dakota’s at-large district. Noem was an ally of Trump during his first term, with the Republican president endorsing her gubernatorial campaign. Noem served as the 33rd governor of South Dakota, until being nominated, and confirmed as the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Prior to even being confirmed as Secretary of DHS, Noem had faced scrutiny for her positions as a congresswoman and governor. As a governor, Noem deployed troops from the South Dakota National Guard to the US-Mexico border. In 2024 Noem claimed that the US-Mexico border was a “warzone.”
As governor of South Dakota, Noem drew the ire of many indigenous tribes residing in her state. In 2024 Noem claimed that cartels used tribal lands to “spread drugs through the Midwest” at the benefit of tribal leaders, Noem was banished from lands held by nine indigenous groups in South Dakota.
One of her biggest controversies remains a passage from her 2024 memoir No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
The memoir describes an incident with Noem’s 14-month old wire-haired pointer named “Cricket.” The memoir depicts how Noem put the dog in a gravel pit and shot it after it failed to heed her commands and chased and killed a neighbor’s chickens. Noem wrote how after killing her dog, she realized she still needed to kill a goat that had allegedly been chasing her children.
Under her leadership the Department of Homeland Security directed Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) to meet its reported goal of 3,000 arrests per day, 1 million deportations per year. By ratcheting up arrest quotas, DHS detained over 200,000 individuals. Of these, over 70 percent had no criminal record, and with only 7 percent having a violent criminal conviction. In congressional hearings, Noem sparred with lawmakers over the facts of US citizen detentions and deportations, with conflicting evidence presented against her claims that no citizens had been deported.
Sae Joon Park, a 55-year-old Purple Heart Army Veteran and green-card holder was urged to self-deport in June of 2025. During a hearing with the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner confronted Noem over Park’s removal order which contrasted her statement that veterans and citizens were not being deported.
The beginning of the end for Kristi Noem can most likely be traced to “Operation Metro Surge.” Allegations of fraud perpetrated by Somali immigrants and Somali-Americans in Minneapolis and the wider Minnesota area saw thousands of Federal agents under DHS descend on the twin-cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Around 3,000 federal agents were deployed in an operation that saw two Americans citizens killed, and over 4,000 arrests. Criticism emerged over Noem’s response to the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were both shot and killed by DHS agents. Noem’s description of the actions of Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorism” sparked outrage across the political spectrum. Noem declined to apologize for her description of Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorists.”
Lawmakers from both chambers and parties grilled Noem during a series of hearings on Capitol Hill earlier this week.
In addition to her handling of immigration enforcement in Minnesota, Noem was blasted for usage of funding. DHS ran a $220 million ad campaign encouraging self-deportations that featured Noem prominently. Noem asserted the contracts were awarded through a competitive bidding process and that no political appointees were involved.
Noem was asked by Sen. John Kennedy (R – LA) if President Trump approved ahead of time for Noem to spend $220 million on the ad campaign. Noem asserted that they went through the legal processes with presidential approval.
According to sources familiar with President Trump, he had considered firing Noem after the backlash from Operation Metro Surge, but had held off for fear of perceived concessions to Democratic lawmakers demands. Noem has been moved to a new role as special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas.” It is unclear what this role entails. Noem’s replacement has been tapped as Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R – OK).
