President Donald Trump has announced he is nominating MAGA Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, but he’s giving her a new gig.
The president, 79, made his announcement on Truth Social as Noem, 54, has come under fire for her spending behavior and an alleged affair.
“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.
“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,” he added.
Noem, who was nicknamed “ICE Barbie” for a series of cosplaying appearances in different getups, is the first Cabinet member from Trump’s second term to get the axe amid escalating criticism of her leadership.
The Daily Beast asked the White House for more information on what Noem’s new position would entail and about the initiative being announced on Saturday.
As the president posted about her departure, Noem was publicly speaking at an event in Tennessee, but she did not address the shakeup. Moments after she exited the stage, however, she did put out a statement.
“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. @SecRubio and @SecWar are incredible leaders and I look forward to working with them closely to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren,” she wrote on X.
The president threw the outgoing Cabinet official under the bus on Thursday, moments before he announced on social media that he was creating a new position for her as an off-ramp.
Trump told Reuters he was totally ignorant about the more than $200 million ad campaign Noem claimed he had approved in advance.
“I never knew anything about it,” Trump told Reuters.
The comments came two days after Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy ripped into the DHS secretary about the advertisements at a hearing on Capitol Hill and suggested it was an effort to boost her own “name recognition.”
Noem has also been facing intense backlash for her handling of the surge of ICE agents to Minnesota and then labeling two U.S. citizens as “domestic terrorists” in the immediate aftermath of them being shot and killed.
In the end, Trump even sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to take over the federal operation there and remove the DHS secretary from the frontline, but the White House insisted that the president still had confidence in Noem.
The backlash to the ICE killings led to calls for funding to the agency to be renegotiated on Capitol Hill after ICE was given roughly $75 billion as part of a whopping $165 billion for DHS in Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
DHS is at the center of the ongoing partial government shutdown as lawmakers remain in a standoff over annual funding for the department, with Democrats demanding new restrictions on ICE.
At the same time, Noem has been facing repeated allegations of having an ongoing affair with her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, who has been jetting around the country with her as a “special government employee” in a luxury jet.
The lobbyist with no law enforcement experience is accused of having immense power within the department despite having no relevant experience.
Noem was confronted to her face on Wednesday by Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who questioned the Cabinet member over whether she had ever had sexual relations with Lewandowski as DHS secretary and argued it was an issue of both judgment and a potential conflict of interest.
Noem, who is married, shot back that the accusations were garbage and offensive, but she never specifically said “no” while testifying under oath.
Trump started laying the groundwork to replace Noem after her brutal appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. According to Punchbowl News, he was calling Republican senators to get their take on whether he should fire her.
A person familiar with the president’s thinking told National Review that Trump was frustrated with her response to Kennedy and that Mullin, a former Mixed Martial Arts fighter and plumber, was being considered to replace her.
In his post announcing Noem’s replacement, Trump wrote the 48-year-old senator ‘has done a tremendous job representing the wonderful People of Oklahoma, where I won all 77 out of 77 Counties—in 2016, 2020, and 2024!”
He also praised him as a “MAGA Warrior, and a former undefeated professional MMA fighter.” He argued Mullin “truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda.”
The Oklahoma senator has been a fierce defender of Trump on Capitol Hill, but he has also attempted to lead negotiations across the aisle with Democrats in the deeply divided Senate.
Trump’s effort to replace Noem comes at a time when he will face an uphill battle to get any new nominee confirmed, so choosing a sitting senator who has already built relationships on the hill helps pave the way for a smoother confirmation.
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