Leadership Shakeup at DHS: Kristi Noem Ousted, Markwayne Mullin Tapped to Lead Department

Kristi Noem has departed her post as leader of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following a tenure defined by controversy and a contentious week of oversight hearings on Capitol Hill.

President Donald Trump confirmed the leadership change Thursday in a post on his Truth Social platform, announcing Noem will be replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a steadfast Trump loyalist and hardline immigration policy hawk. “Our outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem has served our country well, and delivered numerous impressive outcomes—especially at the southern border,” Trump wrote. “She will transition into a new role as Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our groundbreaking new Western Hemisphere security initiative we will formally announce this Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service leading Homeland.”

DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the shakeup.

The DHS umbrella covers a wide range of federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the U.S. Coast Guard, among others. As a sprawling bureaucracy with sweeping national security responsibilities and a quickly expanding budget, the department sits at the center of the Trump administration’s radical overhaul of U.S. immigration and border policy.

Speculation about Noem’s impending exit has swirled in Washington for months. Critics have repeatedly blasted DHS’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, and internal tensions have long been reported between Noem and top White House officials over the rollout of the administration’s mass deportation agenda. According to people familiar with internal discussions, Noem and senior White House adviser Corey Lewandowski have clashed with White House border czar Tom Homan, prioritizing raw arrest and deportation numbers over all other policy goals.

The relationship between Noem and Lewandowski itself has been a source of repeated controversy. CNN previously reported that a September meeting between the pair and President Trump grew “heated and contentious.” Just last month, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Lewandowski attempted to fire a department pilot mid-flight after the crew failed to move Noem’s blanket from one plane to another during a stopover.

The ousted secretary faced mounting public and congressional scrutiny over the deaths of two U.S. citizens during federal operations in Minneapolis: Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal agents under Noem’s command. In both cases, Noem publicly labeled the deceased “domestic terrorists,” a framing that was echoed by Trump and other top administration officials. However, video evidence, witness testimony, and an independent autopsy directly contradict DHS’s official claims, including early assertions that Pretti brandished a weapon before he was killed.

Scrutiny of Noem’s tenure extends beyond the Minneapolis fatal shootings to a broader pattern of aggressive enforcement, warrantless home raids, and the expansion of mass detention facilities. A classified 2025 policy directive first reported by the Associated Press authorized ICE agents to forcibly enter private residences without a judicial warrant. The memo, signed by acting ICE director Todd Lyons, instructed agents to rely solely on an administrative removal document to bypass Fourth Amendment protections. The policy has already led to multiple confirmed cases of agents raiding the wrong homes, including a January operation in Minnesota where agents removed a U.S. citizen at gunpoint with no legitimate legal basis.

A record 53 people died in ICE or CBP custody last year, according to House Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security. At the same time, Noem launched a $38 billion procurement effort to purchase and refurbish up to 24 warehouses across the U.S., with the goal of converting the properties into mass detention camps for migrants awaiting deportation.

Controversy over Noem’s leadership has also impacted other DHS agencies. Her rule requiring personal approval for any department contract or grant valued over $100,000 has created major gridlock at FEMA, leading to a massive backlog of funding that has slowed the agency’s core operations. A new report released by Senate Democrats this Wednesday found that Noem’s extra vetting process for FEMA has held up more than 1,000 contracts, grants, and awards. Multiple FEMA employees told WIRED that the policy has left the agency significantly less prepared to respond to disasters and national threats.

According to multiple national outlets, Trump made the final decision to remove Noem after two days of combative hearings on Capitol Hill, where even one Republican senator joined calls for her resignation. During the hearings, Noem testified that Trump had signed off on a $200 million DHS ad campaign centered on Noem herself—a detail that reportedly angered the president.

In his post announcing the leadership change, Trump called Mullin a “MAGA Warrior.” A former plumbing business owner and professional mixed martial arts fighter, Mullin served a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives before winning his Senate seat in 2022. He has since emerged as one of Trump’s closest confidants in the Senate, and regularly defends the administration’s hardline domestic and foreign policies.