Oklahoma senator appointed as Homeland Security secretary, replacing Noem

Abu Sabet: President Trump on Thursday announced he was replacing Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security secretary with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) in the first major shake-up of his Cabinet in his second term.

Trump said in a Truth Social post Noem had served her role well and would be shifting to the role of special envoy for “The Shield of Americas,” a new initiative for the Western Hemisphere.

“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,” he announced on Truth Social.

“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. @SecRubio and @SecWar are incredible leaders and I look forward to working with them closely to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren,” Noem said Thursday.

Noem’s firing marks the first departure of a cabinet official during Trump’s second term. Unlike Trump’s first administration, the president’s second administration has not been defined by a revolving door of high ranking officials.

Mullin, the junior senator from Oklahoma, has been in the Senate since 2023 and previously served in the House.

“I am super excited about this. It came as a not a complete surprise, but it came as a little bit of a surprise,” he told reporters.

“There’s a lot of work we can do to get the Department of Homeland Security working for the American people.”

He swiftly received positive signs for his potential confirmation.

Trump’s announcement was welcomed by Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who called Mullin “a good dude” following the news.

Noem’s firing comes after months of speculation over whether she might be removed from her post.

But that scrutiny escalated after back-to-back appearances before Congress this week in which Noem received pushback from GOP voices questioning her job performance.

From Republicans voices alone, Noem received questions over a $220 million ad campaign that prominently featured her as well as assertions from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general that Noem had been stymieing his investigations. Several also questioned substantial delays in distribution of funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after natural disasters.

Shortly before Trump made the announcement on Thursday, he told Reuters in a phone interview that he did not authorize the $220 million ad buy.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) this week accused Noem of using the ad primary to boost her “name recognition.” She had also been mocked throughout her tenure by other critics for visibility joining various DHS missions and operations, seen donning gear used by immigration officials.

But he also then sent border czar Tom Homan to take over operations in Minnesota, a move seen as pushing aside Border Patrol leader Greg Bovino as well as Noem.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Noem has been considered a loyal ally of the president — one who even floated the idea of adding Trump to Mt. Rushmore in her home state of South Dakota.

But pressure on Noem’s job performance continued to build, particularly in the wake of the killing of two Minneapolis residents amid a surge of immigration enforcement in the area.

In the wake of each death, Noem forwarded claims that both people had been committing acts of domestic terrorism when they were shot by immigration officers.

Noem on Tuesday and Wednesday resisted repeated calls to apologize for the remarks, instead saying she was trying to provide the best information possible.

“You didn’t wait for the evidence. You proclaimed that they were domestic terrorists at the time. Why did you do that?” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat in the House Judiciary Committee, fired back Wednesday.

Trump initially stood by Noem earlier this year as she faced backlash for the situation in Minnesota, pointing to her work closing the southern border.

The turnover at the department comes as DHS is embroiled in the third week of a shutdown, with the House and Senate to vote later Thursday on a package to fund the department’s agencies.

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