President Trump announced Thursday that Senator Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) will replace Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary.
The announcement comes after Noem struggled to stand up to a public grilling by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who pressed the former South Dakota governor on Tuesday about a $220 million ad campaign contract that was subcontracted to one of her longtime allies. Trump was furious at Noem for insisting during the hearing that he had personally approved the contract and began floating Mullin’s name as a potential replacement, National Review first reported early Thursday.
Mullin will replace Noem effective March 31. It’s unclear whether Trump plans to nominate Mullin to serve in the position permanently or whether he will serve in an acting capacity, sparing him the necessity of Senate confirmation.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.'”
Already under significant scrutiny due to bipartisan criticism of her handling of Trump’s deportation agenda, Noem ran into further trouble this week during a series of hearings in which multiple lawmakers, most notably Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, asked her to explain why the agency had awarded a $220 million contract to a firm that was founded just days before, without ever opening up the bid to a competitive process. Kennedy also pointed out that part of that ad campaign was subcontracted to a strategy firm owned by Ben Yoho, the husband of former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
Noem insisted in response that the contract was awarded legally and that Trump had personally approved it.
“I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth. It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president, as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy shot back. “I don’t think Russ Vought” at the Office of Management and Budget “would have agreed to that,” he added.
Shortly before announcing Noem’s firing, Trump told Reuters that he “never knew anything about” the contract in question.
In addition to questions about the propriety of the contracts DHS has doled out during Noem’s tenure, the outgoing secretary also faced criticism during the hearing over reports that she is involved in an extramarital affair with Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump ally who serves as a special government employee. Lewandowski has exercised an unusual level of control over the awarding of contracts in his advisory role, multiple outlets have reported.
Noem called reports that she and Lewandowski, who is also married, are engaged in a romantic relationship “tabloid trash” during the hearing.
Noem’s firing marks Trump’s first significant second-term cabinet shakeup since Mike Waltz was fired as National Security Adviser in May after sensitive military planning messages sent by Waltz and other national security officials were shared in a chat that included Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg.