WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and says he will nominate Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin in her place.
Trump made the announcement on social media on Thursday (March 5), two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from Republican members as well as Democrats.
Trump says he will make Noem a Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term.
Her departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing immigration enforcement tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits.
During a news conference Thursday at US Central Command, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Noem had done a great job.
"The president is making a change," he said. "We all serve at the pleasure of the president."
Trump’s pick to replace Noem has in the past expressed scepticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of DHS.
"If we have to wait on the Federal Government to respond, we are going to be waiting for the rest of our life," Mullin told Fox Business in 2024.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat who was critical of Noem and DHS even before ICE agents swarmed Chicago last fall in a violent immigration crackdown, offered a blunt reaction.
"Should not let the door hit her on the way out," he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Noem’s well-deserved termination was long overdue.
Jeffries contended that under Noem, taxpayer dollars were weaponised to kill citizens and that she paraded around in a luxury jet to glorify her self-image.
Some of the most important immigrant organisations in the US welcomed Noem’s departure but said they did not see her replacement by Mullin as a radical change.
Oppenheim, chief executive officer of HIAS, called on all leaders in this administration to lead with respect and dignity for the most vulnerable.
Separately, Vignarajah, president and chief executive officer of the refugee resettlement organisation Global Refuge, said her departure is an opportunity to course-correct.
Two days before Noem’s ouster, a Federal Court judge in San Francisco ordered that the secretary could be questioned under oath in a lawsuit opposing staff cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mullin’s nomination will go through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
That panel is chaired by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, whom Mullin recently criticised as a snake.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration will work with the Senate to confirm Mullin as quickly as possible.
Noem has faced blistering criticism from lawmakers of both parties recently about her handling of the disaster agency.
Critics say her policies slowed billions of dollars in disaster reimbursements to states.
Trump said he is appointing Noem to serve as his Special Envoy as he announced her ouster.
Trump is gathering with the leaders of 11 Latin American countries for a Shield summit on Saturday (March 7) at his golf club in Doral, Florida.
The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago have confirmed they will attend. - AP
