Kristi Noem walked into two congressional hearings this week and never walked out of her job.
The moment she told senators Trump personally approved her $220 million ad campaign – and Trump went on record saying he never knew about it – the clock hit zero.
Now a former undefeated MMA fighter who once dared a union boss to throw a punch is about to run the most powerful domestic security agency in the world.
Why Trump Fired Kristi Noem After Two Days of Hearings
The specific damage was self-inflicted.
Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Trump had personally approved her $220 million advertising campaign – the one plastered with her face, funded with border emergency money through a no-bid contract linked to a firm connected to her own former communications director.
Trump denied it the same day.
"I never knew anything about it," he told Reuters Thursday.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy had called Trump after the hearing and found the president, in Kennedy's words, "mad as a murder hornet." Kennedy later told reporters that Trump asked what he thought of Markwayne Mullin – and after noting that Mullin would "whip my ass" if given reason, gave his blessing.
The ad campaign was the final blow, but it landed on top of a pile. Administration officials cited the Minneapolis operation, where two American citizens were shot and killed by federal agents and Noem publicly labeled them domestic terrorists. They cited her purchase of two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets with border security funds. They cited constant feuding with ICE and CBP leadership, the Corey Lewandowski drama that consumed her final hearing on the Hill – including Lewandowski's infamous decision to berate a Coast Guard pilot over a misplaced heated blanket – and her unilateral decision to suspend TSA PreCheck during a funding lapse, a call reversed by the White House within hours.
She becomes the first Cabinet secretary removed in Trump's second term.
Markwayne Mullin Is Trump's New DHS Secretary and He Has a 5-0 MMA Record
Markwayne Mullin is 48 years old, holds a 5-0 professional MMA record, and in a 2023 Senate hearing offered to settle a dispute with a Teamsters president right there in the chamber.
He left college at 20 when his father fell ill, took over the family plumbing business, and grew it into the dominant service company in the region.
He is the only Native American – an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation – currently serving in the U.S. Senate.
Trump called him "a MAGA Warrior" who "truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda."
Mullin has been one of Trump's most reliable votes since arriving in the Senate in 2023 – backing Pete Hegseth's confirmation, defending the Iran strikes this week, and serving on the Appropriations Committee that controls DHS funding.
That last detail matters more than people are noting.
DHS has been running without a full appropriations bill since mid-February, and the man now nominated to run the department has been one of the people negotiating its budget.
Mullin told reporters Thursday he was "super excited" and "ready to get started."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hopes to move the confirmation quickly.
Chuck Schumer said he won't support the nomination – the problems at DHS are about "policy, not personnel," he argued. Tim Walz said it's "good she's gone" but demanded a full overhaul.
Democrats said the same things about Noem when she was confirmed. Trump's immigration agenda ran anyway – 605,000 deportations, record detention numbers, the most aggressive ICE enforcement in American history.
The agenda isn't changing. Mullin takes over March 31.
Sources:
- "Trump taps Sen. Markwayne Mullin after firing Kristi Noem as DHS secretary," CNBC, March 5, 2026.
- "What led Trump to replace Kristi Noem," NBC News, March 5, 2026.
- "5 controversies that dogged Noem's DHS tenure," Axios, March 5, 2026.
- "EXCLUSIVE: Inside Kristi Noem's Final Weeks Leading DHS," The Daily Caller, March 5, 2026.
- "Sen. Markwayne Mullin announced as new DHS secretary replacing Kristi Noem: What we know about him," NewsNation, March 5, 2026.
- "Trump fires DHS secretary Kristi Noem, replaces her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin," ABC News, March 5, 2026.