Trump dismisses Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

  US President Donald Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday after months of controversy, including the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis and lawmakers' questions over a $220 million advertising contract. The Republican president ‌will tap Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace her by the end of the month, he said on his Truth Social platform on Thursday. The appointment would require US Senate confirmation. 

Noem is the first Senate-confirmed member of Trump's Cabinet to be removed this term. 

Noem, a ​former governor of South Dakota, ⁠became one of Trump's most high-profile Cabinet secretaries with social media posts that portrayed immigrants in harsh terms, highlighted alleged criminal offences and used vitriolic language. 

Her ‌departure, after emerging as the face of an aggressive immigration crackdown ‌that had grown unpopular according to recent polling, could allow Trump to reset his approach on immigration policy, a centrepiece of his agenda. 

Shortly after Trump announced Noem's replacement, she posted on X: "We have made historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again." 

During congressional hearings this week, Democrats and some Republicans criticised Noem for her approach to immigration enforcement and management of her department, including concern over a $220 million advertising campaign that ‌featured Noem heavily and had been awarded to two longtime Republican operatives without a standard bidding process. 

Noem's personal life also came under scrutiny, with a Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday asking whether she had a sexual relationship ⁠with top aide Corey Lewandowski. Both are married. Noem called the question from US Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove "tabloid garbage." Lewandowski did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he did not sign off on the ad campaign, which prominently featured Noem and included a scene of her on horseback at Mount Rushmore, in her home state of South Dakota. 

In one congressional hearing this week, Noem told Republican US Senator John Kennedy that Trump had approved the ad campaign.

Reuters